17 




/ 



POEIS ON METHODISM: 

EMBRACING 

THE CONFERENCE, 

OR 

SKETCHES OF WESLEYAN METHODISM: 

BY REV. JOSHUA MARSDEN, 
M 

(LATE OF THE BRITISH CONFERENCE.) 

AND \ 

AMERICAN METHODISM, 

A PLEA FOR UNITY: 
BY AN AMERICAN METHODIST. 



PITTSBURGH : 

PUBLISHED BY JAMES L. READ, 
1848. 



\ 



I 



HI ** 1*» 



PREFACE. 



The author 6f the following verses is fully sensible 
that he ought to make no apology for the subject upon 
which he has written : all he fears is, that the cause 
may suffer in the estimation of judges, from his want 
of ability to do it ample and poetic justice. He does 
not pretend to give a complete history of the Confer- 
ence, or of Methodism ; that has already been done, 
by several different hands : although he fears not with 
ability, equal either to the merits, or the magnitude of 
the cause. He however hopes that, ere long, some 
writer who has both time and talents, and the requisite 
information, will address himself to that Herculean 
task : and leave impressed upon it, the marks of his 
own wisdom, genius and industry : and constrain his 
readers to say, this is multo maximus this is worthy of 
Methodism. With regard to the author, he has been 
content to walk round the base of our Zion ; and, with- 
out the difficulty of ascending to its summit, he has 
gathered a few r wild flowers at its feet, which he has 
woven into a garland for the lovers of verse. Owing 
to the short time he allowed himself, his sketches form 
but a rude outline : a finished likeness must be the 
work of time. It should embrace Methodism in all its 
expanded features :- — British Methodism, — American 
Methodism, — Foreign Missionary Methodism. It should 
be done upon a scale equal to the magnitude and ex- 
tent of the subject — till this be accomplished, the efforts 
of great men, with little time, of good men, with little 
genius, and of wise men, with little information upon 
the subject, will give nothing to the world equal to the 
grandeur and moral importance of Methodism, In the 



PREFACE. 



above remarks, I would be far from hinting a reflection 
upon those several works of this kind which have al- 
ready aj)peared. Some of these are truly excellent ; 
and, as far as they go, are highly creditable to their 
authors ; but they are not the exact image of the or- 
iginal — no man can build a pyramid in a day. Works 
of sterling worth, cost an age of labor ; he must paint 
slowly who paints for eternity. I see no reason why 
a man of genius should not devote the leisure of his 
whole life to a task of this kind : — but alas, whither am 
I rambling ; I only intended to bespeak the reader's 
attention to the contents of my* little book. In the fol- 
lowing sketches, but a few of our doctrines, and only 
some of our excellent predecessors in the ministry are 
spoken of. In the choice of his topics, the author was 
led on by the spontaneous train of his own thoughts, 
without any previous arrangement, or regular plan ; 
whether in this he has acted judiciously the reader will 
judge : he fears he has no better reason to assign, than 
" What I have written, I have written." Amid the 
complicated ramifications of Methodism, the learning — 
the genius — the talent — the eloquence found amongst 
us, I hope we shall never lose sight of first principles ; 
were we to deviate from these, we should forfeit our 
original, appropriate, and distinct character. We might 
become a numerous people ; but the features and sim- 
plicity of our infancy would no longer be seen. To 
recall the attention of my brethren to the first appear- 
ance of the little cloud, is one design of the following 
pages. The Conference has manifested a laudable 
zeal to accomplish the same object ; the republication 
of the whole works of Messrs. Wesley and Fletcher, 
the publishing of a complete edition of the Minutes of 
Conference, Christian Library, &c. are proofs of a wis- 
dom, which, while it makes provision for the future 
prosperity of the cause, is equally solicitous to keep 
alive in our recollection, the first principles and original 
platform of the whole system. May the same princi- 
ples operate in the hearts of all our people ; then we 
shall continue to hold in our hands, both the first and 
the final links of our moral chain ; here we shall say 
Methodism began, those are the intermediate links, and 
this is the link of 1820. The writer of these sketches is 



PREFACE. 



V 



but of yesterday ; he is, nevertheless, afraid that the 
impressions stamped upon the currency of early Meth- 
odism, are beginning to wear away; perhaps those 
who know better may blame his fears, and smile at his 
ignorance ; the more they smile, the more he shall re- 
joice, provided their smiles are the illumination of 
wisdom, and his fears a mere cloud in the shape of a 
giant. He, however, as well as his brethren, has a 
stake in the good cause, and has exerted his small 
ability, to display a little of its pristine glory. The fol- 
lowing lines will be read by some who know little of 
our origin, and who might decline perusing a heavier 
work. To them, at least, a poetic outline may possess 
the attraction of novelty ; the writer has no fear but 
his sketches will be read, and if read he humbly hopes 
that some faint traces of the beauties of Methodism in 
the bud, will be seen in them ; and also some of those 
steps by which our infancy has graduated to the full 
bloom of youth and vigor. Long may that bloom of 
youth and vigor continue, till the Wesleyan cause, like 
a mighty river, shall be swallowed up in the wide 
ocean of universal piety, which shall cover the whole 
earth in the latter day glory. Finally, he lays this little 
work at the feet of his brethren ; if they profit by the 
improvement of his one talent, he will be glad. If his 
verses do any good, may God have the praise. If he 
has failed in the execution his motives give him no 
shame. If he have done wrong, in devoting a few of 
his leisure moments to the following sketches, he hopes 
God will pardon, and the reader excuse his error. 



SKETCHES. 



Saw ye not the cloud arise, little as a human hand ? 

Now it spreads along- the skies, hangs o'er all the thirsty land. 

C. Wesley. 



PART I. 

Coming from different parts. 

Soon as the Sun the monarch Lion greets. 
Ere he the bright cerulean Virgin meets \ 
What time, the rosy flush of summer heat, 
Bids nature's pulse with sprightly vigor beat ; 
Paints every rose, and vaiiegates the land, 
With living beauties, fresh from Flora's hand : 
The band of Brothers, haste from every part, 
Peace in their smiles, and friendship in their heart : 
From each far nook, of our sea-circled land, 
Cambria's brown alps, and Humber's faithless sand, 
All fly, th' appointed Conference to attend, 
In free discussion, mutual thoughts to blend : 
Some from Comubia's tin-mine rocks ; and these 
Quit Mersey's noble stream, or winding Tees ; 
From Dover's cliffs, and Scotia's distant glens : 
York's breezy hills, and Lincoln's grassy fens : 
O'er hill and dale, they travel many a mile, 
Their annual pleasure, and their annual toil 



8 



THE CONFERENCE, 



A time of Solicitude. 

The long anticipated month is come, 

Of grief to most, of jubilee to some ; 

Who through a thorny wilderness have pass'd, 

Singing "be joyful," we are free at last. 

Some, like Dan Milton's Eve, are loath to go ; 

Each circuit is a paradise below : 

Hence, ere the birds of passage prune their wing, 

In other climes to settle and to sing , 

They glance an eye, o'er scenes for ever dear, 

Heave the big sigh, and drop the farewell tear. 

Popular Preachers wanted. 

August arrives and many a note is sent 

For preachers gifted, wise, and eloquent, 

But can the synod, hope alas to please ; 

Both members, leaders, stewards, and trustees ? 

The appetites of some are grown so nice, 

They relish only seasoning and spice ; 

O'er sweet variety's domains they range, 

For novelty, for elegance, and change. 

'Tis not, O God of love, to worship thee, 

We eager crowds within thy temple see, 

'Tis man alone, attracts them to the spot; 

The worm is honored — but God forgot. 

Thy house, is not to some a "house of prayer," 

Unless a fine-speech orator be there : 

Hence often holy men are drawn aside, 

To please fastidious wealth, and fickle pride, 

Yea, those who deem the world but 'dung and dross,' 

Who glory in the covenant and \ the cross,' 

May ajDrjrehend 'tis lawful to concede, 

When rank solicits, and when riches plead. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



9 



Petitions and Remonstrances. 

Post after post, full many a letter speeds. 

Remonstrance to petition, fast succeeds ; 

Circuits obscure, unpopular, remote, 

But little notic'd and of little note, 

May ask — perhaps their purposes are good — 

For Benson, Newton, Watson, or for Wood ; 

Ah ! spare your postage brethren, and " be still," 

There is a niche, each laborer may fill ; 

For every place, God has a pastor fit ; 

Leigh needs no orator, nor Brough a wit ; 

Send Reece to Brigg ! 'tis quite beside the mark, 

And who would think of Banff — for Adam Clarke 1 

Your brethren led by this unerring clue, 

Will doubtless send the fittest men to you ; 

Or, if you relish not a poet's plan, 

Rely on Providence, and " cease from man;" 

God is the Sun, the centre, he presides ; 

All men he governs, and all council guides ; 

Surveys all nature with a parent's eye, 

The plants that blossom, and the birds that fly : 

Your bark is safe, a father rules the helm, 

No rocks can bilge, no hurricanes o'erwhelm : 

To him commend your circuit and affairs, 

A cheerful faith is worth a world of cares ; 

What you request, almighty love will do — 

Appoint a pastor — send a blessing too. 

Regret at Parting. 

Some noble circuits love their preachers so — 
September is to them a time of woe ; 
Pastors and flock so happily conjoin 
In union, civil, social and divine ; 



10 



THE CONFERENCE, 



And flow along like mixing streams one course ; 
'Tis half a death to suffer a divorce. 
So when a pair by soft affection join' d, 
Ties which alone the good and gentle bind, 
Are severed by an unexpected stroke, 
The feeling heart is agonized and broke. 
In christian breasts, soft sympathies reside ; 
There gentle streams of love and sorrow glide ; 
More bright, more pure, more apt to move and melt, 
Than ever player feign' d or poet felt. 
Ah! may my lot be never cast with such, 
Who fear a preacher may be prized too much ; 
What, prized too much ! in these uncivil days : 
When even those who profit — seldom praise ; 
When many with a supercilious eye, 
Treat every pastor as a moral spy : 
Address him with a sour or surly tone, 
And pick his conduct as they pick a bone ; 
Thwart him in every measure wrong or right, 
When absent pelt him, and when present slight : 
Preserve me Saviour from so foul a shock, 
As frigid pastures and a thankless flock ! 

Itinerancy arduous, 

Ah ! who, if thoroughly he count the cost, 
What toils await him, and how often crost. 
Would covet the eratic pastor's lot, 
Or think too much the little he has got ? 
Abridge him of his comfort and repose, 
Or plant a thistle where he should a rose 1 
Is he a proud or high man ? here's a school 
Transmutes him little, moderate and cool : 
Testy and petulent % lo here's a test, 
To crucify each feeling in his breast. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

Fastidious, ceremonious, and nice ! 

This axe will strike a death blow to his vice. 

Soft and effeminate ? Oh spare him then, 

He rushes headlong in a '* lion's den !" 

Of tender feelings, and to melt inclin'd ? 

A thousand ills will grate upon his mind. 

A weakly constitution does he feel ? 

Here 's work enough to try a frame of steel. 

Or if high-souled, assuming, apt to soar; — 

Here 's discipline will touch him to the core. 

But little known, unnoticed and obscure ; — 

" Enriching others" yet himself is poor. 

As vile deception some his conduct view, 

Yet to his God, his king, his conscience true ; 

Dying with frequent pain, or worn with toil, 

Lo, God renews the lamp of life with oil. 

As sad in aspect, yet within serene ; 

No friend to lightness — but a foe to spleen. 

Possess'd of nothing, yet enriched with all 

Faith, truth and reason, worth possessing call. 

In much affliction, tumult and distress, 

" Fightings without, and fears the heart possess 

Watching and weariness his life engage, 

And toils attend him both in youth and age, 

Pursue him close, through every lane of life, 

A man of sorrow and a man of strife : 

A pilgrim, stranger, wheresoe'er he go, 

And some a stranger's bosom never know; 

Whirl'd to and fro, from " Beersheba to Dan," 

Successive changes crowd life's narrow span ; 

Public utility or private whim 

Requires incessant sacrifice from him ; 

The good of all must be the general scope, 

And this will often dislocate his hope. 

His brethren, till he understand them right, 



12 



THE CONFERENCE, 



May thwart him, pain him, crucify and slight ; 

And oft a wayward, stony-hearted flock 

"Will bid him plough and sow where all is rock, 

This test will make him bleed at every vein, • 

Unless a living ministry sustain : 

This crucible, this touchstone of the cross, 

Will try his faith, and prove it gold or dross. 

When worn with toil, the race of duty ends, 

Who are, alas, the hoary veteran's friends ] 

He's "known and read of all," but who will feed 

Himself or widow in a time of need ] 

Acquaintances may everywhere abound, 

But where for him is genuine friendship found. 

While strong to labor he was much caress'd, 

Ere age and pain and care and toils oppress'd ; 

No longer fit to guide the gospel plough — 

Who follows, comforts, and caresses now ] 

In some small cot, secluded and alone, 

For better days and summer friends are flown, 

He wears away — poor, humble and content ; 

If small his pittance, life alas is spent ! 

A few more days of grief and pain he spins ; 

Then death his lasting jubilee begins. 

You say the picture has too deep a gloom, 

That kindness leaves severity no room 

For censure : censure is unkind I grant, 

When food and friendship, every care supplant : 

Let wom-out preachers smile as life declines, 

I'll blot the cynic censure from my lines. 

Difficulty of pleasing. 

Ah me ! our chapel critics seldom find — 
So fine their taste, a pastor to their mind : 
'Tis neither doctrine, liturgy, nor psalm; 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

Fine speaking only, bears away the palm. 
No soul can please them but the gifted few, 
Send Bunting, lo, they want a Newton too ! 
Were Paul to visit our degenerate land, 
And preach as infancy might understand, 
Our virtuoso hearers would complain, 
And wish him back to paradise again. 
Ask them to hear an honest, worthy man, 
Like Nelson, wedded to the gospel plan, 
Plain, simple, unadorn'd or rude in speech : 
He preach the gospel ! no, he cannot preach ! 
So vulgar, coarse, inelegant and rough, 
Who, but a blockhead would go hear such stuff ? 
Watson may hope to please them now and then, 
Or Clarke, who preaches noblest with his pen : 
But purest viands soon their palate sate, 
Unless served up on porcelain or plate. 

False Taste in Hearers, 

Others, alas, with judgment not so just ! 
For far-fetched fustian feel the keenest gust ; 
What plain, good men can never understand, 
" Is excellent; is exquisitely grand !" 
Some rare, or old conceit, no matter which, 
So Gerund thought — makes every subject rich ; 
Howe'er inflated, pompous and untrue, 
They care not — so 'tis curious and new; 
Antipodes of plainness, truth and sense, 
And volunteers for rank extravagance ! 
Who probes the heart with duties unperformed 
Who storms a lying creed that should be stormed, 
Who weighs the merits of an airy hope, 
They love asw ell as Addison loved Pope ! 
The purest, simplest doctrines fail to please, 
2 



14 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Not deck'd with flowers, nor gemm'd with similes ; 

Plain truth must robes of gossamer put on, 

And Tully's classic Toga, fit St. John. 

To their false taste, and wild, luxuriant wit, 

The book divine, by inspiration writ, 

Of wisdom full, with eloquence replete, 

May seem too common, coarse and obsolete ! 

And Wesley's style, though beautifully chaste, 

Be much too simple for their flashy taste. 

Conference met — E Pluribus Unu??i. 

The morning comes, and lo at early dawn ! 
While dewy lustres spangle o'er the lawn, 
The band of brothers kneel with heart sincere, 
Join the warm hymn, or pour the vital prayer ; 
And ask without hypocrisy or pride, 
That he who planned the system would preside : 
" Till eye to eye the faithful watchmen see," 
Meet in one point, and in one cause agree; 
For vain the counsel, and the cares of men, 
C4ifts of the tongue and labors of the pen ; 
Unless the blessing patronize the deed, 
Sow what we please, no harvest will succeed. 
But he has oft their annual meeting cheered : 
When much was felt, and more, alas, was feard : 
They stept the chapel threshold with a sigh, 
Before they parted sorrow bloomed with joy ! 
And he will bless them, he will own them still ; 
In spite of every prophecy of ill, 
Their bands shall spread at his divine command, 
O'er all the limits of " Immanuel's land," 
While colors decorate yon showery bow, 
Stars twinkle, planets roll and Phcebus glow ; 
While summer, winter, seed-time, harvest stand, 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

Attest God's truth, and shew his mighty hand ; 
While balmy peace, shall weeping sinners cheer, 
And virtue smile at piety's career ; 
While truth shall triumph, man his God adore, 
The Wesleyan cause shall nourish more and more 

President and Secretary. 

The Conference begun, 'tis first decreed, 
To fill each chasm in the ancient deed ; 
This honor some by free election share ; 
Their title others by their age declare ; 
Age takes the lead, for all are Spartans here, 
But wise and aged we in heart revere : 
These levy tribute on our warm esteem, 
And such we worthy double honor deem. 
Who fills the Chair, is next the general plan, 
And suffrage free selects the proper man ; 
A wise, judicious, prudent, well tried seer, 
A pilot skill'd, our moral bark to steer ; 
Whose apostolic conduct shall enshrine 
Each public act in dignity divine. 
Prepare the vote, another niche to fill, 
An able scribe, to guide the council quill, 
Whose animated tongue, and nimble pen, 
Can write on paper and on hearts of men ; 
Lynx-eyed to penetrate through every part ; 
The clearest head and the most upright heart ; 
Lips, where the laws of truth and kindness join, 
With energy of action half divine : 
A man of noble, independent soul, 
Firm as a rock and steady as the pole ; 
Discreet, impartial, ready in debate, 
The clashing points to analyze and state : 
For every task, for every office fit, 
A man of God, a scholar and a wit. 



16 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Obituary. 

From living lights who annually preside, 
We turn to ask, what faithful men have died ; 
These we record, in chronicles that suit, 
Their talents, age, deportment labors, fruit ; 
From year to year, we register their deeds ; 
But here the muse a wider circle needs, 
Reviews the solemn records of the tomb, 
And bids past worth within her lines re-bloom. 

The Venerable Founder, 

O righteous Wesley, shall a muse essay, 

From thy bright track, to catch a living ray ? 

So wide, so swift, so useful thy career, 

Truth cannot paint without suspicion here. 

But still his mind a wider circle drew, 

For with his usefulness, his ardor grew ; 

The public good, he grasped with such* a zeaL 

As prophets felt, and dying martyrs feel ; 

And like his own belov'd redeeming plan. 

He sought the bliss of universal man, 

Yet cruel envy, base ingratitude, 

His works aspersed, his spotless life pursued : 

Each college clown, each academic beau, 

Was Wesley's staunch, sworn, everlasting foe ; 

Hence, if the prelate's shaft its victim miss'd, 

A troop of rectors quickly crowd the list ; 

Who, when the bishop's opposition failed, 

Renewed the warfare, bit their lips and railed. 

But not alone the sacerdotal class ; 

Each drunkard's song, and witling's jest he was ; 

The light buffoon and silly novelist join 

His name to nonsense, plays, and pantomime. 

Gay men would laugh at him, and sages tried, 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM, 



17 



To lesson excellence that touched their pride : 

His piety was titled madman's rant, 

His hope a lie, his converse pious cant ; 

His deadness to the world was deemed disgust, 

His faith was fable, and his love was lust. 

His pious ardor, — O insidious hate ! — 

To church was schism, treason 'gainst the state : 

His wide benevolence, had malice tried, 

Could she with more malignity have lied ] 

His wide benevolence, that gaily shed, 

A brilliant halo round his hoary head, 

Was hence a hook to grapple power and fame, 

And gain the lustre of a deathless name. 

He, fix'd as fate, on truth's immortal base, 

Rose like a pyramid amid disgrace ; 

Serenely shone, and when he brightly set, 

Left Europe and the moral world in debt. 

Charles Wesley, the Sweet Singer of Israel. 

Thou too art gone sweet leader of the choir ; 

Thou soul of music with a seraph's lyre. 

When royal David made his final will. 

Sweet fancy added this last codicil ; 

" To Solomon I give my crown and throne ; 

This sacred harp shall Watts and Wesley own." 

And thou hast touched the strings with so much skill, 

The Hebrew Melodist enchants us still. 

Thy peerless hymns each nice distinction trace, 

Each shade of mind, each lineament of grace, 

From the first pious thought, or infant ray 

Of moral light to God's refulgent day. 

Thy muse from every rose on Zion's hill, 

From every fountain and from every rill, 



2* 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Has culled divinest sweets of every kind, 

To charm the ear, to purify the mind ; 

Thy living lines, a moral mirror prove, 

They shew us all we fear, and hope and love, 

And give us back, in fairest beauty drest, 

" The image pre-existing in our breast." 

When shady grief has o'er my bosom stole, 

When fears and doubts have paralyzed my soul ; 

Some sweetly pleasing strains of thine have charmed : 

With light illumed me, and with comfort warmed. 

How oft, through thy seraphic hymns have I 

With rapt affections mounted to the sky ; 

Pleased have I read each stanza, till I blest 

The tuneful tongue, that charmed my fears to rest ; 

Applyed a balm to heal my every woe, 

And taught my eye to smile, my heart to glow : 

To my enraptured musing, Eden showed, 

Then bade me fly along the blissful road. 

But thou art gone where every note is love, 

To live the Laureat of the realms above ; 

To chant, to warble, in angelic ears, 

Strains that delight us, in this vale of tears ; 

O may they charm us, till our spirits rise, 

To meet our sweetest Minstrel in the skies ! 

Where every saint shall wave his golden palm. 

And David, Watts, and Wesley, lead the psalm. 



The beloved John. 

Near those bright names, record another saint, 
O ! might I copy him, as well as paint; 
Fletcher, the man of naming faith and love, 
The fearless lion and the gentle dove : 
Adorned with heaven-born gifts of of eloquence, 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

The richest fancy and the ripest sense ; 

Learning-, the fairest flower that blooms on earth. 

Enchanting nymph, of true Castalian birth, 

(Though oft, alas, the inauspicious bride, 

Of pedant airs or ostentatious pride) 

O'er his rich mind its sevenfold lustre shed ; 

Yet he was lowly ; here no pride it bred : 

It was a loveliness that gaily shone, 

In each admiring eye except his own. 

But learning with its mild, luciferous rays, 

Was only Godlike Fletcher's second praise ; 

His holy deeds a mystic light displayed, 

Which not the veil of modesty could shade : 

The " pitcher" fail'd the brilliant lamp to screen, 

And through the " earthen vase" the gold was seen 

A twin, a transcript of " beloved John," 

In softness, sweetness, mildness, meekness one : 

Here piety unveiled her shadeless white, 

His heart her throne, his life her mirror bright ; 

His heart from each unlovely temper freed, 

His life a living comment on his creed. 

Baptized into the mystic life he saw, 

The bright unfolding of Jehovah's law : 

He longed the depths to fathom, breadths t' explore 

To run the lengths, and to the summit soar 

Of love divine — this ever " burning coal," 

This " living lamp," was lighted in his soul ; 

On love's angelic car he sweetly rode, 

The " mount of God," was his divine abode. 

Accept this tribute from a muse unpaid ; 

O " saint in light ! " O ever honor'd shade ! 

'Tis nobly just to venerate the dead, 

When glory beams around the dying bed ; 

Crowns with a lovely radiance poor clay, 

And wafts in gales of bliss the soul away. 



20 



THE CONFERENCE 



Coke, the Zealous Promoter of Missions. 

Where shines the lustre of our Fletcher's fame, 

Fair truth, shall register another name ; 

A man of Xavier's mission flame possessed, 

God's honored legate to the woody west : 

Who in the torrid, or the temperate zone, . 

With ardent zeal and living lustre shone. 

For Africans, he warmest pity felt ; 

For them his eyes would flow, his bosom melt. 

In latest life, his love no limits knew, 

The circuit widened as the Christian grew ; 

He long'd to plant the cross from pole to pole, 

And missions, God except, had all his soul. 

But how can verse the strong emotion trace, 

That glow'd within for all the Ethnic race ; 

How follow his benevolent career, 

From zone to zone, o'er this terrestrial sphere : 

His vast success, his apostolic zeal, 

Scarce more the flame-winged host of seraphs feel. 

Nor Albion's shores, nor fair Antille's isles ; 

Nor trans-atlantic worlds, could bound his toils ; 

Where first the morning greets the eastern skies, 

O'er the wild waves, to Brammah's world he flies : 

And stretched his ample soul, to grasp and bless, 

All India, as his boundless diocese : 

Till, over ardent for its " house of clay," 

It burst the brittle shell, and soared away, 

To him who bade the vital essence glow, 

With flame seraphic in a world of wo. 

A Bird of Paradise. 

Would I describe a flame of purest zeal, 
Such as Apostles felt, and Seraphs feel : 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM, 



21 



Each sacred lineament and trait divine 

Of seraph ardor, holy Walsh were thine ! 

'Twas thine to cross an ocean of distress, 

Then dwell with Jesus in " the wilderness ; " 

To taste the prophet's wormwood, grief and gall, 

Complain with Job, and symbolize with Paul : 

Like him, to suffer pain, reviling, loss, 

Yet glory in the conflict and the cross ; 

" Fightings without, and fears within" sustain, 

Smile at reproach and triumph over pain. 

Rapid, yet calm, I see thee upward move, 

Thy life all labor, and thy heart all love ; 

Love, such as many a holy martyr crowned, 

When the flames' fiery anguish wrapp'd him round. 

A thread of study, diligence and zeal, 

Encircled thy short life's revolving wheel ; 

Though brief and sharp thy pilgrimage of pain, 

No season fled, no hour escaped in vain : 

So like thy mortal, was thy moral race, 

The youth in nature, was a sire in grace ; 

Thy victim death, in manhood's early bloom, 

Yet ripe for bliss he triumphed o'er the tomb : 

Thus, when the crimes of graceless Hebrews spread, 

And men by priests, and priests by sin were led ; 

God, in a car by flaming cherubs driven, 

Conveyed the prophet's spotless soul to heaven. 

The Columbian Missionary, 

My friend, my patron on a foreign shore, 

Which hostile arms, has tinged with British gore ! 

My Asbury, has thy pure spirit flown, 

To sinless Eden's ever-blooming zone. 

On thy dark pines, America suspend 

Each silent harp ! deplore a pastor friend; 



22 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Who through thy range immense of forest shade, 

Twice twenty years the banner cross displayed. 

Remote, where Erie skirts Canadia's shore, 

Or where the Mohawk's boiling torrents roar, 

I hear his voice — and next his footsteps trace 

Near fir-girt Alleghany's mighty base : 

Along Ohio's banks, I see him press, 

Through tracks immense of gloomy wilderness ; 

Emerging where the wide Atlantic roars 

'Gainst Carolina's swamp-extended shores. 

Anon, I see him distant many a mile, 

" Faint, yet pursuing" the delicious toil ; 

Where Richmond lifts her turrets o'er the floods, 

And wide Potomac quits Virginia's woods. 

Through wet savannahs, muddy creeks and bogs, 

O'er streams not bridg'd, or bridg'd with rotten logs. 

He fearless urged along the forest maze, 

With oft no turnpike but the settler's blaze : 

With oft no inn, when he had done his ride, 

But a log hut, where smoke and gnats preside ; 

With oft no food, no soft inviting bed, 

Save the hard ground, and sodden buck-wheat bread. 

Yet he had transport, he would often smile, 

A living ministry can all beguile ; 

Along the forest, or along the flood, 

His heart was buoyant ; he was doing good. 

To toil for Christ was paradise below, 

Repose he deemed the harbinger of woe ; 

Joyous the world of Jesus' grace to tell, 

This all his element, or sick or well ; 

By night or noon, in every place his theme, 

On Vermont's ridges, or Missouri's stream ; 

To plant the cross, his glory, crown and care, 

By Hudson's banks, or winding Delaware. 

Thro' fog and frost, thro' snow-drift, heat and blast. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

This "man of God," this forest Bishop passed, 

Twice forty hundred miles of wide career, 

Within the limits of each circling year. 

And is it thus to be a Bishop, say — 

Ye who in courts and levees spend the day ? 

If labor only formed a Bishop's see, 

All satin preachers would refuse the fee : 

'Twould try each " downy doctor" to the quick; 

Prefer' d to Coke's or Asbury's bishopric; 

Not one of all the courtly race would fret, 

To wear the Mitre, if in iron set. 

No soaring theologian would itch, 

In such a temple, to fill up a niche ; 

The throne episcopal, in vain might call, 

The Bishop's palace and the golden stall. 

Obituary continued. 

As beauteous leaves drop from the trees and fade, 

When gloomy Autumn sweeps along the glade, 

Our " fathers die," the " prophets are no more ; " 

Life's but an isthmus, to the awful shore 

Of vast eternity— my soul prepare ! 

A pulse, a breath, a moment lands thee there ! 

Ah ! what is time ! the turnpike to the shroud ! 

And what is life 1 an iris on a cloud ; 

Awake my anxious heart ! with caution steer, 

Death's dreary continent of souls is near. 

A moment men their little playthings use, 

War, arts and science these, and I my muse ; 

Another moment and the tale is done ! 

We bid adieu to annual stars and sun : 

Another world succeeds, of woe or bliss, 

Of gloom or glory, as we live in this ! 

Thrice happy they, who die to all below, 



24 



THE CONFERENCE, 



And raise a tax of bliss from every wo ; 
Live greatly, wisely, live to God alone, 
Seek man's salvation, and secure their own! 
Such only sleep in dust, they never die, 
The grave is but a portal to the sky ! 

A Primitive Preacher. 

Stop muse, o'er Nelson's ashes drop a tear ; 
The man of worth, for all was patent here : 
The wondrous man, of strong unlettered sense, 
A moveless bulwark in the truth's defence. 
Him, neither lures could charm nor terrors awe, 
The captain's insult, nor the quorum's law, 
Nor prison gloom, could his firm purpose shake, 
Nor bigot rage, whose logic is a stake. 
Midst surging waves he rose a solid rock, 
Beat back the billows and defied the shock ; 
If other refuge failed he nobly stood, 
Resolved to seal his mission with his blood : 
Nor men, nor fiends could make him quit his post. 
The truth had formed him mighty as a host. 

A Man of Mind. 

Mather is fled,, in whose capacious mind, 
Sound sense and solid piety were joined ; 
Truth on his breast impressed her sacred seal, 
Gave him the eye to scan, the heart to feel, 
And he — though not with Egypt's lore was wise : 
His knowledge was imported from the skies. 
For ready wit and prudent counsel famed, 
Here blush ye learned clerks and be ashamed ! 
Professors sage and classic teaching schools, 
May give an artificial mind to fools ; 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



May showy tinsel ornaments dispense ; 
His was the bullion of superior sense ; 
Wisdom had form'd him on her noblest plan, 
In mind and matter he was wholly man : 
She taught him science no preceptors teach, 
Justly to judge and happily to preach. 

A Meek Minister, 

If gentle manners, with a soul refined, 
A placid temper, a superior mind, 
Are fair impressions of the stamp divine, 
Meek Hanby, these were luminously thine ! 
Peace to thy pious spirit now at rest ; 
With gifts like thine be every pastor blest ! 

The weeping Prophet. 

Mild-hearted Murlin, how shall words express 

Seraphic zeal, transformed to tenderness : 

When down the cheeks unbidden sorrows roll, 

Tears have an eloquence that touch the soul : 

And thine, O weeping prophet ! often ran 

In streams of pity for rebellious man. 

Oh zeal ! how beautiful thy form appears, 

In the bright mirror of a good man's tears : 

Let the cold moralizing reasoner sneer, 

All Oxford's logic is not worth a tear ; 

Who sows his seed in undissembled grief, 

Shall have, when harvest comes, full many a sheaf; 

Ah ! how unlike the systematic drone, 

Wrapt in the ices of his frigid zone, 

Who, cold himself, dare reprobate all fire, 

So torpid laps their frozen shores admire. 

But who, the vital gospel would impart, 



26 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Admits the wounded, is the wounding heart ; 
Where " brands" are rescued from eternal name, 
Passion is reason ; transport who can blame. 

The Pious Druid. 

With age and care and grief and pain opprest, 

Lo tuneful Olivers is now at rest ! 

Him inborn genius taught serene to shine : 

So glows the ruby in its native mine : 

Blest with the gifts of music, song and speech, 

Yet swift to learn, as eloquent to teach : 

A firm as sorter of the godlike plan 

That offers life to universal man : 

Embracing, with an amplitude of grace, 

The multitudinous, Adamic race ; 

Now throned in light, to chant in living lays 

His " God of AbramV everlasting praise. 

The Righteous little known. 

But " time would fail " to record every name, 

Unknown to poetry, unknown to fame, 

Not graved in bronze, nor cut in Parian stone ; 

The just man's annals are but little known ; 

Yet in the book of life they shine above, 

Writ by the adamantine pen of love : 

On leaves more durable than brass or steel, 

She graves the faithful record of their zeal. 

Nor shall at least one unaspiring muse, 

A willing tribute to their worth refuse : 

Sic Vivitur, she writes on every bust, 

And plants her living amaranths o'er their dust. 

Let others grasp for gain, the vocal shell, 

The blaze of war, the pomp of triumph tell ; 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



2? 



O'er the soft lyre, with nimble fingers fly, 

To chant a rosy lip, or lucid eye ; 

One song, or be it ridiculed or read, 

Shall wake sweet recollections of the dead, 

Exhibit worth, and while they sleep in dust, 

Emblazon wide the virtues of the just. 

Tho' " stars" bright flaming round the throne of bliss, 

Receive no lustre from a verse like this. 

A Plain Good Man. 

The tide of death, that down life's valley rolls, 
Has hurried Pawson to the land of souls ; 
Pawson the good, the useful and the wise, 
Forsakes our stormy shores for calmer skies ; 
He meekly passed, through life's tumultuous scene, 
With manners gentle and a soul serene ; 
Without the splendor dazzling gifts impart, 
He was a pastor dear to every heart : 
Truth, order, plainness, through his conduct ran, 
And sweet simplicity adorned the man, 
Not learned, but in that volume deeply read 
Which warms the heart, irradiates the head ; 
Faithful he lived to God, with every breath, 
Had peace in life, and hope and joy in death. 

A Veteran Treacher. 

One fate awaits the wise man and the fool, 
Hence Hopper treads death's sullen vestibule ; 
But lo ! he walks serenely through the shade, 
No gloomy fears his dauntless soul invade ; 
Faith, hope and patient love take mercy's hand, 
Who shows across the vale " Immanuel's land;" 
Shows him. the cross, whence grace and glory dart, 
And bids the joy of glory warm his heart ; 



2S 



THE CONFERENCE, 



With the bright lamp of promise gilds the gloom, 
That leads to Eden through the dreary tomb ; 
Hence, like a summer sun he sinks to rest, 
Death smiled, for death was like a seraph dresr. 

The Winning Pastor, 

Another bird of paradise is flown, 

Another star is set, that brightly shone ; 

Cownley has shot the gulf, and lo ! he rides. 

On the calm bosom of Elysian tides ; 

Safe anchored on the beatific shore 

Where neither calms impede, nor tempests roar. 

A sage in sense, in piety a saint ; 

His moving eloquence, what pen can paint ; 

Serenely soft as summer's balmy dew, 

Mild as the morn and as refreshing too. 

Athirst for God he agonized to prove 

And preach (O sweet extreme !) redeeming love. 

A Holy Itinerant. 

Devoted Yalton ! thou hast passed the bourne, 
From which, or bliss or wo, no souls return. 
Thy record is on high — -but can we less, 
Than chronicle thy ardent holiness : 
Thou wast of other times ; but we thine heirs. 
Possess thy rich inheritance of prayers. 

"A Clond of Witnesses** 

This life how bright so'er its prospect bloom, 
Is but a pilgrim's journey to the tomb : 
A narrow bridge, whose rapid river rolls, 
To death's wide gulf, all disembodied souls. 
That gloomy avenue, our fathers trod : 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 29 

They shot that gulf, and gained the throne of God. 
Unfading glories, now their toils requite, 
Rich jasper palaces and robes of light; 
Though Rankin, Webb and Whatcoat sleep in dust, 
Faith sees them in the mansions of the just ; 
There Grimshaw, Broadbent, Bradburn I behold, 
Shepherds beloved in the Redeemer's fold. 
Lo ! Barber, Bramwell, Bradsley, Taylor, stand, 
Hailing the glories of the golden land : 
Or wander o'er the bright Elysian soil, 
Where fadeless bloom and perfect beauty smile. 
Nor will I thee, O Rutherford, forget ! 
Resplendent gem in Jesus' coronet ; 
A pastor truly dear to all his flock, 
Mild as a lamb, unshaken as a rock ; 
Prompt to . obey, submissive to endure, 
His love was ardent, his religion pure ; 
So pure, the lip of malice could not blame, 
So ardent, dying could not quench the flame : 
O ! might I catch his mantle, nobly trace, 
His every step through all the realms of grace, 
And when I quit this animated clod, 
Like him, adore the Lamb and soar to God ! 
And many more the muse cannot recite, 
Have joined their brethren in the realms of light : 
Another still, and still another flies, 
Like birds of passage to serener skies ; 
To reap in glory, what they sowed in wo, 
And wear the crown, they suffered for below. 
O ever honor'd saints ! accept the lines, 
A timid poet, offers at your shrines, 
Happy, unspotted worth to celebrate, 
More happy, could he reach your joyous state ; 
Like you the race of shame and glory run, 
Then hear the plaudit of the judge, " well done." 

3* 



SKETCHES. 



PART II. 



Many are we now and one, 
We who Jesus have put on : 
Plac'd according to his will, 
Let us all our work fulfil. 
Never from our office move : 
Needful to each other prove : 
Use the grace on each bestow'd. 
Temper'! by the art of God. 

C. Wesley, 



" Be ye followers of them" 

Thus far, the fathers of the cause we sung, 

In timid verse, and with a faltering tongue ; 

To their true filial offspring now we turn, 

In whom their spirits live, their graces burn. 

O ye devoted unaspiring men ! 

Seals of their word, " epistles" of their pen : 

Legitimated sons, successors, heirs, 

Both of their preaching, privilege and prayers ; 

Keep these bright worthies ever in your eye : 

And study thus, to labor, live and die. 

Our Zion's base was laid by them alone, 

They from the quarry dug each shapeless stone : 

The land was waste, no thoroughfare appeared : 

They cut the path, they nobly pioneered, 

Through wood and wild, o'er many a deep morass, 



32 



THE CONFERENCE 



The causeway rose, we now securely pass. 

Though envy sneered, and bigotry reviled, 

And viper malice hissed, they ceaseless toil'd ; 

One hand the trowel held, and one the spear ; 

And oft they preyed, for oft the foe was near. 

In vain " the heathen raged " in vain opposed, 

The path was opened and the ground enclosed : 

Then rose this noble edifice sublime ; 

Whose solid base, shall mock corroding time : 

This " house of mercy," this asylum sure ; 

This " ark of rest," this " shechem" for the poor : 

A quiet haven, from the storm secured, 

Where mine — and many a sheltered bark has moored. 



How the Work began. 



" The cloud was little" when it first began, 

Along the hemisphere, it swiftly ran ; 

And where it fell in fertilizing rain, 

It turned the desert, to a flowery plain. 

From side to side of this enquiring land 

Flew the warm leader of the future band ; 

The city first the joyful tidings hailed, 

But wider soon, truth triumphed and prevailed ; 

From dawning twilight, to meridian day 

It shone, and myriads confessed its sway. 

Pardon and peace, through faith in Jesus' blood, 

But few allowed and fewer understood. 

Who of his merit made a gainful trade, 

Saw all his hopes and smiling prospects fade : 

Whence wrecked and ruined by the mighty loss, 

He clung- insolvent to the refuse cross : 

And when the wretch was able to confide, 

The power of sin — the pride of morals died. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



33 



How first the Preachers were raised up. 



From south to north the apostolic man, 

Winged with pure love, displayed the saving plan ; 

" The living light," his toiling steps beguiled ; 

And thousands felt the vital balm and smiled : 

Felt its diffusing- light and truth within : 

'Twas a lamp shining through the realms of sin : 

A record of their wretchedness and guilt ; 

A record of the blood Immanuel spilt ; 

A record of remission fair impressed, 

On the soft tablet, of a contrite breast : 

A record of the truth, that saves from all 

The ruins and the relics of the fall. 

Some, who within the blood-bought pardon found, 

Felt yearning pity, for their friends around ; 

Yet filled with awe, they trembled to impart 

The glowing comfort, they had found at heart. 

But though they tried at first the cross to shun, 

And hid within their breast what God had done ; 

An impulse followed them by night and day, 

Strong in their thoughts, but strongest when they pray : 

Till bolder grown, they burst the ties of fear, 

And published what the universe should hear. 

The truth prevailed, for they would often melt* 

Alive to feeling — others also felt : 

Musing, from whence such liberty could come, 

Their listening auditors were often dumb : 

And with attention, still as midnight hour, 

Hang on their lips and every word devour. 

At first the speakers but described the change 

They felt within, then took a wider range ; 

And wider still ; for liberty was given 

T' expatiate free, o'er all the plans of heaven. 

To fields, to hedges, to highways they flew ; 



34 



THE CONFERENCE, 



The scene was novel, and the actors too : 
Vast multitudes the force of truth confessed, 
By heaven writ — on many a contrite breast. 

High Church Prejudice : — the Work proceeds. 

The ardent Leader, soon the tidings reach, 

That men unclassical had dared to preach : 

He tried, for he was Churchman from a child, 

To check what seemed irregular and wild. 

But how could he the force of truth withstand : 

'Twas God's own work — and who could stay his hand ? 

His high-church prejudice, his college lore, 

His stiffness, which had never stooped before, 

Gave way — he saw, he felt the sacred sign, 

He saw and gloried in the work divine. 

God gave the word, the life imparting sound ; 

The heralds of immortal truth abound : 

With eagle speed they fly to every part, 

For love's elastic touch impelled the heart. 

Some in our sister Isle the standard raise, 

These Cambria's valleys seek, those Scotia's braes. 

Some fly across the wide Atlantic wave, 

Thy emigrants, America to save ! 

Or south, where many a sable captive's groan 

Sounds through the Islands of the torrid zone, 

They ran to cheer the slave with "joyful sounds," 

And pour God's life elixir o'er his wounds. 

Some seek the lost on Australasia's shore ; 

Others, the wilds of Africa explore, 

'Midst burning sands, their precious lives expose, 

A brief career by fatal fever close ; 

Or in the Libian lion's fearful track, 

They rove to bring the Ethiopean back 

To God, and bid a moral Eden rise, 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

Where only frightful wilds salutes the eyes. 
Some seek yon fisher's isle across the tide, 
Where frost and fog perennially reside : 
Their willing zeal to save the lost defies 
Cold Canada, or burning Ceylon's skies : 
And on yon frowning rock, that ever braves 
Iberia's sons and fierce Atlanta's waves, 
They raise a rampart against pride and lust ; 
They plant the cross, the bulwark of the just. 
Still may they labor on at God's command, 
Till "light and truth," encircle every land; 
Till every nation, on this spotted ball, 
Bow to the Lamb and " crown him Lord of all." 

First Preachers worthy of all Esteem. 

And shall bright intellect, or talent smile, 

Degrade my heroes, or condemn my toil ] 

Shall they, who reap the fields our sires have sown, 

Give them the chaff, and call the wheat their own 1 

Or, in the littleness of self-esteem, 

Pronounce them only milk, ourselves the cream % 

Perish the foul unmanly thought that would 

In their gay garland blast a single bud ! 

For them no tombs are built, no statues raised ; 

Then let us not be niggards when they're praised. 

The man who points a joke at their expense, 

Outrages virtue, decency and sense ; 

And who, his boasted plume of talent rears, 

On the imagined littleness of theirs, 

May hear, to check his vain presumptious boasts, 

" Write this man childless," saith the Lord of hosts. 

Alone and hated in a world of strife, 

Tliey sought no flesh-born privilege in life : 

Whatever little minds delightful call, 



36 



THE CONFERENCE, 



What e'er was hated by heroic Paul ; 
They nobly trampled on, they " counted loss ; " 
Believe, Love, Suffer, blazoned on a cross, 
Was their true motto, which alone expressed, 
The living, ruling, tempers of their breast : 
Hence, as the quivering needle seeks the pole, 
They ceaseless pressed to the appointed goal. 

TJiey were divinely fitted for their Work. 

Wisdom howe'er misjudged by erring pride, 

" In all her sons is clearly justified : " 

The means and end harmoniously agree ; 

The soil and clime are suited to the tree. 

God called a lukewarm nation to repent, 

" He gave the word" and " sons of thunder" sent. 

What Luther was, our predecessors were ; 

He scorned the two-faced hypocrite to spare : 

To open vice they showed a fiery law, 

And struck the daring reprobate with awe : 

Who splits a rock requires a sledge to suit, 

No man e'er thundered with a melting lute. 

What, if the present race more light possess, 

Their zeal was greater, and their leisure less : 

They roused the wretch's hopes, alarmed his fears, 

Fine words are only music in his ears. 

The critic's niceness, all the scholar's mind, 

All Davy's arts and Newton's science joined, 

Whate'er the polished pastor may assert, 

Did ne'er the dead in trespasses convert. 

But they, with holy energy broke in, 

And stormed the citadel of pride and sin. 

Their fervent spirits no excuse allowed, 

The stubborn glebe they resolutely ploughed ; 

And when the clods had fe?t the parting share 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

They sowed the truth, and watered all with prayer. 

Others the palm of learning may secure, 

Their zeal was burning, and their creed was pure. 

" The Bible was their Religion. 11 

The Bible was their " oracle" of wit, ~ 
Both when they reasoned and when they writ ; 
With bible words and bible maxims stored ; 
The spirit's record and " the spirit's sword ; 
The darts of God on every side were hurled, 
And Truth, their lever, shook the moral world. 
Truth, was their Alpha, when the work was small ; 
Truth, was their Omega, the crown of all; 
Truth, on their streaming banners gaily shone, 
'Twas their sheet anchor, and Palladium stone; 
Hence, on their charter this inscription ran, 
" Truth is the triumph of immortal man ! " 
Thus pious Latimer in Mary's time, 
When sloth was canonized and Scripture crime; 
Slung to his belt, forever near his heart, 
Wore the saint's vade mecum, guide and chart, 
The living oracles, the hallowed Tome, 
That shook " the gates of Hell " and papal Rome. 
Of these pure springs, whence " living waters flow," 
These " nether fountains," in a world of wo, 
Our fathers always drank and often drew, 
For still the taste was sweet, the waters new. 
In this fair garden they would often rove, 
And meet the Deity in every grove. 
The Book inspired, was their supreme delight, 
By day their study, and their song by night ; 
Their map of Paradise, their code divine, 
Their Delphic temple and Dodonian shrine : 
Here no wild sybil from the Cuma cave, 

4 



38 



THE CONFERENCE, 



No lying demon, double answers gave. 
The mystic gems on holy Aaron's breast, 
By which, " I AM" his oracles expressed, 
Shone forth unveiled, in every sacred line, 
Where living light and full perfection shine. 

They were afraid of Novelties and Theories. 

No doubtful theories would they admit, 

No whims of critic, no high flights of wit, 

To render muddy, truth's pellucid streams, 

By learning's dogmas, or enthusiast's dreams. 

The simpleness of truth with them was all, 

Hence, fifty # * * # would not have made one Paul. 

All revelation's record they received, 

And truth alone implicitly believed. 

To reason, second honors they allowed ; 

But only to unerring Scripture bowed. 

'Tis not the best specific for a doubt, 

Always to search the why and wherefore out : 

Some things we should believe because we must, 

Or where would be the excellence of trust ! 

Where reason fails, there faith must ply the oar, 

When we the vast abyss of truth explore ; 

Lest, dashing fiercely on presumption's reef, 

We founder in the gulfs of unbelief. 

There is a fixed and everlasting line, 

Where what is known, and what is hidden join : 

On this side, all is luminous and bright, 

On that, eternal gloom and rayless night ; 

Our fathers saw the limit, were afraid 

To tempt that region of perpetual shade. 

Both truth and nature have their hidden stores, 

Which not a Clark or Newton's eye explores : 

The " depths of God," unfathomed and profound, 



' OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 39 

With reason's plummet, who, alas, can sound ! 
Or measure peerless mysteries divine, 
"With ratiocination's scanty line. 

Thro' glooms unpierced, by reason's glow-worm ray, 

Faith shed a living lustre on their way ; 

Hence, all the plan beatific they saw, 

The "land of promise," and the mount of law; 

The fatal fall ; the remedy decreed ; 

Man lost, till an atoning Savior bleed ; 

The filial God for turpitude atones, 

And leaves the homage of celestial thrones ; 

Bids earth attend, angelic hosts approve, 

The blood-writ covenant of dying love. 

Now flaming seraphs man's redemption sing, 

The lyre of love admits another string ; 

Thrones, angels, gods, the bleeding story tell ; 

How Godhead suffered, and how mankind fell : 

And devils howl it through the dark abyss, 

That man is now the legatee of bliss. 

O let it echo all creation round ! 

Till pagan lands shall " know the joyful sound ; " 

Fly to the cross, and claim a blood-bought right, 

To harps of angels and to thrones of light. 

This living fountain " flowing from the throne," 

This scheme of love, to patriarchs unknown, 

Our fathers saw ; here all their bliss began ; 

This formed the platform of their beauteous plan. 

General Redemption. 

In this wide ocean of infinite grace, 
They saw a fulness for the human race. 
When love divine, our common nature owned, 
For all in flesh, his passion pangs atoned : 
Hence, streams of mercy issued from his side, 



40 



THE COXFEREXCE, 



Free as the light, unbounded as the tide 
That rolls its vast immensity of waves, 
And every shore and every island laves. 

Repentance. 

Yet wide and deep as Gospel blessings roll, 

And free, (if sought,) for every human soul ; 

Till man his crimes deplore, his sins dismiss, 

They bade him at his peril taste the bliss : 

Bliss, which no soul impenitent can prove : 

Contrition, is the only gate of love. 

Heaven's balm alone, by broken hearts is felt ; 

Metal is never moulded till it melt : 

The wax is softened ere the seal impress ; 

True joy's precursor, ever was distress. 

Men sow the fruitful seed in softened ground, 

And ere the balsam flows, the tree they wound. 

The Gospel cannot charm, the spirit draw, 

Till man has felt the lashes of the law : 

So our first pastors taught, and so should all, 

Who imitate the prophets and St. Paul. 

Faith and Holiness. 

Thev taught, that living- faith its fruit must show. 

If pure the fountain, pure the stream below : 

To guilt and crime, if vital hope succeeds, 

The mystic life is known, by moral deeds. 

The ground is good where richest pastures rise ; 

The tree benign, that wholesome fruit supplies. 

Ask you the cause why peace and meekness bloom. 

Why sweeten life, and beautify the tomb ] 

Ask you the cause why angry feeling sleeps. 

And the meek sufferer only sighs and weeps ! 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 41 

Why sin is hated as a deadly ill, 

And the calm soul on " tumult's wheel is still 1" 

Ask you the cause, why, on yon bed of pain 

No plaint escapes him — and why " death is gain 1 " 

Whence flows the fine philanthropy of mind, 

Which feels for every man, of every kind ? 

Whence rose that sweet delight in God alone, 

That joy, fast-flowing from Immanuel's throne ! 

Those blest sensations, words can ne'er define, 

When the enraptured heart, says " Christ is mine," 

Who bade contrition's tear suffuse the eyes, 

And who the fire of gratitude supplies 1 

Who poured that loving temper o'er the breast ? 

Who, pride, and hate, and selfishness, supprest 1 

Whence sprang that hope, which beams in every smile, 

And who supplies devotion's lamp with oil ] 

Ask you the cause ? — 'tis faith in Jesus' blood, 

The sun, the sea, of every moral good. 

The Witness of the Spirit. 

Whoe'er is blest, our moral sires maintained, 
Soon ascertains the blessing he has gained, 
A ray of truth shines inward to attest, 
Man's fair progression to eternal rest : 
What all believers feel, but none define, 
A sky-writ record of the work divine : 
To seal, confirm, authenticate, and prove, 
His vital share in covenanted love. 

Perfect Love. 

Our fathers taught, in many a warm address, 
Salvation's crown — pure, perfect holiness ; 
That when the soul, the hallowing fire renews, 



42 



THE CONFERENCE. 



And God, in man, his effigy reviews ; 
Fair truth and reason, like two Spartans reign, 
The mind their royal seat, the heart their fane ; 
Their sceptre grace, their code a " law of love 
Their crest an olive branch, their arms a dove : 
Beneath their sway, the dragon sin is chained ; 
And forfeit paradise is now regained ; 
Faith, meekness, zeal, united empire hold, 
And joy unmixed, restores the age of gold : 
Each thought impure is blasted in the bud. 
Each duty sprinkled with atoning blood; 
Who bids the ocean billows rest or roll, 
Has fixed devotion's temple in the soul : 
A train of living graces deck his throne, 
By which the infelt deity is known ; 
The cause at once, in the effect is seen, 
We know the spring is come when all is green : 
The splendid court, the royal presence shews, 
And though unseen, its scent betrays the rose : 
So when the heart is purified and clean, 
God's moral image in the soul is seen ; 
It shines reflected, as in glass we trace, 
When pure the surface, face reflecting face, 
The attracted heart its central sun obeys, 
" Prayer all its business, all its pleasure praise ;** 
The rest of sabbath reigns, no passions rise, 
No passions, but have kinsmen in the skies. 
The fire that burns within has clean destroyed. 
The dregs of passion and the dross of pride : 
Man grasps the beatific prize, nor waits 
For death, to open blooming Eden's gates: 
Jesus is " all in all," each tie is broke, 
And light and easy sits the Saviour's yoke. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



43 



Salvation by Grace. 



Salvation they ascribed, to boundless grace, 

From first to last, both edifice and base : 

No partner would they suffer on his throne, 

He wears the kingly diadem alone. 

His love uncaused, the cause of all our good ; 

The means his passion, and the price his blood : 

He has no fellow, colleague or compeer, 

Man is the clay and Christ the potter here ! 

When light and heat, forth issued from the sun, 

His word commanded and the day begun : 

If purer light benighted men illume, 

His spirit was the " day-spring" midst the gloom, 

At his almighty fiat rose to birth, 

Both the blue sky and flower enameled earth \ 

He speaks and lo ! his potent voice controls, 

The moral chaos in degenerate souls : 

Pride, passion, unbelief, and rage o'erthrows, 

And the first morn of new creation glows. 

Merit in man, is but a popish tale, 

*Tis lighter than a feather in the scale 

Of awful justice, — that impartial test 

Proclaims our duties, vanity at best. 

Merit ! shall any human spirit dare, 

Bold sacrilege, this robe of Jesus wear ? 

No, lay thy head proud pharisee in dust, 

Let grace alone and mercy be thy trust. 

Mercy ! O what a mystic charm is there ! 

To save a soul just sinking to despair. 

O sacred amulet ! thou bid'st depart, 

The gloomy demons that afflict the heart. 

Here rest my shipwrecked soul though billows swell, 

This plank will save thee from the depths of hell. 

However faint, this cheering balm apply, 

The soul revives, the sinner cannot die. 



44 



THE COXFEREXCE, 



Justice may fulminate and wrath pursue, 

But here's a haven, an asylum too : 

Here, here, I rest, on this almighty prop, 

Though, quivering o'er the gulf, I cannot drop ; 

I cannot sink, this buoys above the waves : 

I am not lost — this final refuge saves : 

From this I will not stir, I'll not depart, 

While life's warm current eddies round my heart ; 

Let others boast their piety, I dare 

Not for a moment, seek my safety there ! 

Let others of their merits make a trade, 

Beware my soul, of hopes that bloom to fade. 

A rest ! a rest ! I want a rest that braves, 

Wrath's angry tempest and devouring waves ; 

I look around through time's distressful gloom, 

For peace of mind, for hope beyond the tomb ; 

I look, but look in vain, they are not found 

Amid life's walks, or moral duty's round ; 

A thousand gloomy fears my mind engross, 

I sink, but mercy saves me through the cross ! 

The Filial Deity. 

They taught that Christ was G-od's eternal son, 
E'er glowed yon silver orbs, or time begun ; 
The son ineffable, " o'er all" confessed, 
Adored by seraphim, by godhead blest : 
The unbeoHnnino- fount's coeval stream ; 
Describeless glory's sempiternal beam : 
The flame co-ancient with the sacred fire ; 
The son eternal of the eternal sire. 
But who, the depth of Deity can sound ? 
Vain reason, thou canst never pass this bound, 
Too deep, too high, too bright the radiant blaze. 
Its dazzling brightness stops the seraph's gaze. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

The Crown of all. 

As melted, metal takes the shapely mould, 

As shines the die's impress, on ductile gold; 

As softened wax displays the figured seal ; 

So may we bear their stamp of love and zeal. 

A holy plainness through their conduct ran. 

They loveld to benefit, but dared to ban : 

At self-saved hypocrites, their bolts were hurled ; 

But still they wept in secret for the world. 

Religion's pristine honors to* restore, 

To make her lovely as in days of yore r 

They toiled with assiduity intense, 

That held no fellowship with flesh and sense : 

And taught mankind, that liturgies and creeds, 

Save none without true faith and holy deeds. 

The Spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha. 

O may we in their righteous footsteps run ! 
And nobly finish what their zeal begun ; 
Our Zion then, shall shine with lustre fair, 
While you her walls defend, her banners bear ; 
So when the fathers of our Israel die, 
With hopes serene and ripened for the sky, 
New Joshua's and Elisha's shall succeed, 
Our lambs to foster and our flocks to feed ; 
Who, as each hoary Moses shall expire, 
Or old Elijah, mount on car of fire, 
Shall catch the prophet's mantle in its flight, 
Copy their lives and follow with delight; 
Flame with their zeal, pursue their noble track ; 
And give us in themselves our fathers back ! 



46 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Missions. 

Brothers beloved, go on ! your path is clear, 
Truth shows your duty, Providence your sphere : 
The world, the moral world, your succor needs ; 
Now Carib Isles, Ceylon, or India pleads : 
" Come to our help," each stormy ocean cross, 
In regions desolate, exalt the cross, 

O 7 7 

Here take possession, here the standard lift, 
The lamb's by purchase and the saints' by gift. 
" Come to our help," immense Canadia cries, 
O'er these green wilds, " the day star " shall arise ; 
These woods solicit, these vast lakes implore ; 
Proclaim the cross along Ontario's shore. 
Throughout th'untravelled regions of the west, 
Be every tribe with light and precept blest ; 
Where down his steeps Niagara is hurled, 
Or vast Superior spreads a fluid world : 
Along Missouri's stream, or where the woods 
Are intersected by the Sire of floods ; 
In silent solitude's primeval shades, 
Which but the cow-bell's tinkling sound invades, 
Let hymns of praise, the listening woodman please, 
And the sweet gospel echo through the trees. 

West Indies. 

" Come to our help," yon burning Isles request, 
Yon jasper Archipelago 'ith west: 
Come where perennial bloom and beauty shine, 
While half a million toiling negroes pine. 
Where nature's flush suffuses all the plains, 
And man's worst enemy, oppression, reigns. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



The captive makes his sorrowful appeal ; 

Fly to his aid on wings of love and zeal ; 

His silent anguish no companion shares, 

For him no parent feels, no pastor cares : 

Debased with crime and leveled to the dust, 

He has no bliss to hope, no God to trust. 

Choked with the weeds of error, sin and wo, 

Ah what a field is this for truth to sow ! 

Zeal, pity, love, have here a task assigned, 

Worthy of Brainerd's tongue, and Howard's mind. 

Methinks I hear a black man succour crave, 

"Ah pity massa — pity negur slave ! 

No read — no hear de sermon — never pray — 

Me weep — me toil — me burn — me tink all day — 

Me wish me dead and buried, den me slip 

De frowning massa and de flogging whip : 

Me plant — me hoe de cane — me grind — me boil, 

What pleasure hab poor negur all de while ; 

For cruel massa neber look him kind, 

And sick or sad me no compassion find." 

Ah ! 'tis the purest charity to bless, 

The wretch whose unmixed portion is distress : 

Teach him while traversing the torrid clod, 

To lift his eye above and trust in God. 

Tell him of Jesus who benignly saves, 

" The chief of sinners" and the worst of slaves; 

Inwreath the ills of life he's doomed to bear, 

With joyous hope, with patience, faith and prayer ; 

Around his cot, bid Gospel radiance shine, 

His spirit's wounds assuage with balm divine : 

Till every restless, vexing thought within, 

The pains of slavery, and the pangs of sin, 

Vanish, like sullen shades of night away, 

When blushing morn unbars the gates of day. 

A happy captive now, and freeman too, 



48 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Peace in his heart, and paradise in view; 

He'll bless the ship that whirled him o'er the wave, 

In Carib Isles to be a christian slave. 

South Africa. 

" Come to our help," lost Hottentots invite ; 

Here moral gloom creates perpetual night : 

Come teach poor Caffres great Immanuel's law, 

To save them, bless them, join intrepid Shaw ; 

See him along the dreary region haste, 

His house a wagon, and his home a waste ; 

By day, the sultry sun, by night, the dew, 

Now feverish heats, now chilling rains pursue ; 

But formed to cultivate a rugged field, 

God his support, and Providence his shield ; 

Strong in the might of him " who walked the waves," 

All toils he conquers, and all danger braves ; 

Unawed by savage beasts, or fierce bushmen, 

" The leopard's mountain," or " the lion's den; " 

He lifts the cross, erects the mud-built hut, 

In deserts unimpressed by Briton's foot. 

West Africa. 

" Come to our hjslp," each sable tribe implores, 

Where princely Niger cools his sultry shores, 

And rolls along, o'er nations little known, 

In silent grandeur through the torrid zone. 

Or near Tristao's forest-fringed wave ; 

Where British gold has purchased many a slave ; 

Each jetty clan with "light and truth" illume, 

" Till deserts smile, and like the rose-bush bloom." 

Along each swamp, each dingle, thicket, brake, 

Where lurks the tiger, or the Boa snake ; 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 

Let peaceful domes and cottages arise, 

Let sabbatli rest be known and sabbath joys, 

And christian temples, not for pomp but prayer, 

Their lovely heads amid the forest rear ; 

" The rose of Sharon " bloom in every grove, 

Each scene be jubilee, each bosom love ; 

And slavery, the curse of every clime, 

Be blotted from the register of time : 

While nations where ferocious lions prowl, 

Peopled with men unconscious of a soul, 

Behold a stream the barren regions cheer ; 

A moral spring shall renovate the year : 

Millions of Africans in Jesus blest, 

Forsake their devil-rites from east to west ; 

And Ethiopia's lost and outcast shore, 

" Stretch forth her widowed hand " and God adore. 

The East. 

Go, holy 'men, to earth's remotest shores, 
Where'er the sunbeams play, or ocean roars ; 
Through every oriental clime proclaim, 
In mystic speech, Immanuel's saving name : 
The mighty task of love and labor ply, 
Till God the gordian knot of cast untie. 
Your pious zeal shall countless millions teach, 
The purest morals in the strangest speech. 
Meanwhile to raise aloft your noble aims, 
And give the pledge a world in ruin claims, 
Think what almighty love for you has done, 
And think what crowns of bliss th' Apostles won. 
Truth leads the van, the beaten path pursue ; 
What men have done — despair not — ye can do. 
Be great — be good — be zealous, still aspire, 
Let noble men and noblest motives fire : 
5 



50 



THE CONFERENCE, 



Let Brainerd's zeal and Xavier's ardor charm ; 

Buchanan's stimulate and Martin's warm : 

May Coke's example diligence suggest, 

And Crantz's patience fortify each breast ; 

Elliot and Swartz a living text supply, 

Like Whitfield labor and like Wesley die. 

The time is come when Juggernaut must fall, 

And fair religion triumph through Bengal : 

Each crafty Bramin's artifice shall cease, 

Hindostan's shores, shall hail the prince of peace ; 

O'er all the east, God bids the day-star rise, 

To dash the lurid crescent to the skies ; 

" The word of Christ," shall swift and sweetly run, 

Through all the regions of the rising sun ; 

Till every Asiatic people known, 

Pay grateful homage to Immanuel's throne, 

Candidates. 

From these bright visions of millennial day : 
My theme recals th'excursive muse to say, 
How faithful candidates we next admit, 
In union full, to suffragate and sit. 
He who has finished his pr oh at am est, 
With fewest faults, for faults attend the best, 
Whose talents, morals, health and holy zeal, 
Stamp on his call, God's attestation seal, 
May now among the brethren lift his head ; 
Nor stern reproof, nor sad expulsion dread. 
But ere the sifting trial is complete, 
That lifts him to an honorable seat, 
A close, a searching inquiry j^recedes, 
His labors, gifts, his piety and creeds 
Meet every brother's view, that all may see, 
He has Christ's patent for his ministry. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



51 



It is not whether he can logic chop, 

Define a broom, philosophize a mop ; 

Truth ! truth's the word ! who barters bread for stones, 

Or meat for metaphysical dry bones ? 

Science is charming with religion joined, 

It brightens talent, beautifies the mind : 

Apart from that, 'tis a "jack-lantern" guide, 

The moth of lowliness, the nurse of pride. 

Can famished sinners feed on latin scraps'? 

Who catches souls must better bait his traps ; 

The man who edifies an hungry flock, 

Should find a richer field than hie, kcec, hoc. 

Will an encyclopedia in his head, 

Convert a soul to faith and morals dead ? 

Are spheres and angles, cubes and squares akin, 

To hope and love and rest, from self and sin ? 

The aid of science no man should despise, 

But is our candidate divinely wise % 

Has he himself, the life he would impart, 

The truth-taught mind, the renovated heart % 

Or takes he all his knowledge from a shelf, 

And preaches what he never felt himself] 

Love ! love supreme, must animate his breast, 

Or all his preaching is a sacred jest : 

Love is the living preacher's central sun; 

This fire attracts, if sinful men are won. 

Love forms the useful pastor; love was all 

With winning John and heart affecting Paul : 

Love, should our Tyro's heart, divinely move, 

Redemption, was the work of sov'reign love. 

This first, this regent grace of all the seven ; 

This plan, this yprimum mobile, of heaven ; 

Must o'er his ministry, a lustre shed ; 

Or priest and people, " dwell among the dead." 

Without this sacred flame, this vital chrism, 



52 



THE CONFERENCE j 



The sermon may be fine-wrought mechanism ; 
Correct and clear and orthodox and right ; 
But 'tis the clearness of a wintry night ; 
There is no fire, to melt the frozen soul ; 
The sun is not 'ith zenith, but the pole ; 
I am not warm'd, however, well you preach ; 
A grain of love is, is worth a ton of speech : 
"Among the tombs I dwell," my heart is chill, 
Ah give me love ! for love can warm me str!h 
Without it, knowledge, gifts and eloquence, 
The flow of fancy and the force of sense ; 
Tongues, science,, logic, what are all, alas ! 
But " tinkling cymbal and high sounding brass 
Who feels this fire, though classic doctors rave, 
Has God's diploma guilty men to save % 
And, though no flaming genius is displayed, 
Are we to cast all humbler gifts in sha4e ] 
Stars are not equal, view a summer's sky, 
Some brightly shine, some twinkle to the eye ; 
So, in our Titus, can we fairly trace 
The buds of genius, conjunct with grace, 
Germs latent, that by culture soon may shoot 
Aloft their heads and bear delicious fruit. 
But whatsoe'er his talents or address, 
Has the pure spirit crowned them with success 
Do special fruits his true vocation show ! 
By these shall all his preaching patent know. 
Can bishop's hands a vital gift impart, 
To save the lost and "bind the broken heart \ " 
What fair diploma, college, or degree, 
Makes man a messenger of God to me ] 
When fruits, the sacred character attest, 
I ask no more — 'tis garnish all the rest : 
With such credentials, " known and read of all,' 
We own and ratify the spirit's call. 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 



53 



Characters Examined. 

This done, another labor quick succeeds, 

A close inquest on every brother's deeds; 

This useful test our purity insures ; 

This pill ail powerful either kills or cures. 

This balance every private action weighs ; 

This crucible each character essays. 

Still let each brother pass this straitened door, 

Still wave this fan along the public floor : 

And though the brazen gates of hell assail, 

The cause of truth shall more and more prevail. 

But while you use the balance and the rod, 

Mix love with justice and resemble God. 

Let each for each a fellow feeling show, 

With candor listen and with kindness glow : 

Where justice might the utmost mite exact, 

Pity should mollify the rigid act. 

True love has always mercy in her view, 

And love that "hopeth all things" must be true. 

Who closes mercy's portal on a friend, 

Should be immaculate, should ne'er offend, 

If public censure on a brother fall, 

Where proof is doubtful and the error small, 

Believe the best, severer thoughts repress, 

And be less swift to censure than redress ; 

" Thou, too, art tempted;" if another slide, 

Scan not his failings with censorious pride : 

The mild, serene, " benignant law of love," 

Fairest on earth below, or heaven above, 

With those who triumph, or with those who sigh, 

Requires a fellowship of grief and joy ; 

Who bears another's load of grief or care, 

Fulfils its lovely precept to a hair. 

Pure love is better than a world of creeds ; 

5* 



54 



THE COHERENCE, 



Not love that flourishes, but love that bleeds - 

A rubric's not the value of a grain, 

Nor would a kingdom buy it, though 'twere Spain, 

Whoe'er is judged, let this alone decide, 

Who e'er is weighed, put love 'ith lightest side, 

" We all offend," we all forgiveness need, 

Hence love should be the crown of every creed. 

Who deals in wormwood if a colleague fall, 

May have his debt in full repaid in gall. 

A cruel man, howe'er his passions work, 

Is half a fiend, and kinsman to a Turk. 

Pass lightly over microscopic specks ; 

For minor faults, no worthy brother vex : 

Pity the " bruised reed, and smoking flax 

But glaring turpitude severely tax : 

A vicious habit, a pernicious creed, 

Correct severely, expurgate with speed; 

Howe'er the bleeding member writhe and smart, 

To save the body, amputate the part, 

Stations Read. 

This task dismissed, the stations next succeed ; 

And here some hearts will beat and some will bleed : 

Some tears will fall ; and I myself may weep, 

Yea, lose some hours of soft, refreshing sleep : 

For nature will be nature, spite of all 

That ever sages wrote since Adam's fall : 

We take the lowest place by public voice, 

But duty dictates here, and rarely choice. 

Nature loves honor, ease, and public fame, 

Not hunger, toil, obscurity and shame. 

Some circuits are a Goshen, sure to please, 

And some a wilderness of prickly trees : 

Those, more than what is strictly due afford, 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM, 

These pinch in clothing, fuel, bed and board. 

A few remain so gentle, soft and kind, 

The preachers meet with all things to their mind 

Others, put each solicitude to test, 

And even he can't please who does his best : 

Hence, who is sent to Hexham, or to Ayr, 

May deem his lot unpleasant, yea unfair ; 

For though the first essay be wisely planned, 

With all a brother's heart and master's hand ; 

Yet, who could hope, without a seraph's ken, 

To meet the views of twice three hundred men t 

And three times fifty thousand, who are known 

To have a secret voice behind the throne. 

When first the list is read, serenely hear, 

Nor be the dupe of needless hope or fear ; 

A thousand little changes may succeed, 

And whirl thee from the Severn to the Tweed, 

Wait ! wait ! be patient, passive and discreet, 

Thy wishes and thy lot may nearer meet. 

" Be still " ye throbbing bosoms, cease to sigh ! 

A God of love controls the final die. 

To him your every wish in secret state, 

Whose work is wisdom and whose will is fate : 

Man may the helm with nice precision guide, 

But he impels the wind, directs the tide. 

Whate'er by human providence is planned, 

" His council " only, shall unaltered stand, 

Let Providence alone appoint your lot ; 

Nor fix on this or that peculiar spot ; 

For then, whatever trials may befall, 

Thou hast, to please thyself, bespoke them all. 

How to act in reference to Stations. 

Nay prithee, hear thy station, do not fret ! 
Thy brethren have no bishopricks as yet : 



56 



THE CONFERENCE, 



If to a poor, a meagre quarter sent, 
Be a good Catholic and love thy lent ; 
And if thy little parlor be but small, 
Transmute it by contentment to a hall ; 
For true submission to the general voice, 
Exalts a cottage to a paradise. 
Who clamors for a rich or splendid place, 
May meet a cross to try his every grace ; 
Why ! brethren why ! should cities be the cry ; 
Is there no bliss but municipal joy ] 
Do gales of purest health in cities blow ? 
Do they by charter banish care and wo ? 
Hast thou asthmatic lungs, then fly the spot ! 
As quick as from devoted Sodom Lot ! 
Peace, joy, content, in no meridian grow ; 
They bloom within us, or they never blow : 
Where duty calls, joy waits her friends command, 
Smiles at her side and journeys hand in hand. 
If Leeds, or vast Londina be bespoke, 
Say who is fond of bustle, noise and smoke. 
Should neither Hull nor Liverpool present ; 
Think of thy tender lungs and be content. 
A spacious, crowded chapel dost thou crave ? 
pj # # # found it but a portal to the grave ? 
Stentorian lungs, may bellow through the void ; 
But thou hast frequent stitches in thy side. 
Do Bristol, Glasgow, Bath, thy wishes feed ? 
A ruptured vessel may reprove the deed. 
Sheffield and Manchester may end the strife, 
Or send thee home an invalid for life. 
But hast thou gifts, for city stations fit ] 
Voice, talents, eloquence, politeness, wit ; 
Shall " gallery critics" thy address desjDise, 
And say " come down," Zaccheus should not rise : 
The niche is narrow some are formed to fill, 
Then leave it to thy brethren and " be still." 



OR SKETCHES OF METHODISM. 57 

If they a city's crowded mart refuse, 

In some sequestered vale thy station choose, 

Improve thy circuit, each appointment keep, 

There sweetly tend thy flock, pray, watch, and weep, 

And cultivate, in that unenvied nook, 

Thy mind, thy heart, thy ministry, thy book; 

Let others shine in gifts, do thou excel, 

In preaching faithfully and living well : 

If little public fame attend thy toil, 

Thy flock, thy friends, thy heart, thy God will smile. 

Whence, hear thy station read with heart at ease, 

And go wherever Providence shall please ! 

Conclusion. 

Another hint or two, and then I'll stretch 
My pencil to conclude this hasty sketch. 
Let every brother for his brother feel, 
Our cause is one, our scheme a common weal : 
" Paul or Apollos," Peter, James, or John, 
Each in " his order," still we are but one. 
One "band of brothers," in one work agreed; 
One living head we boast, one bible creed : 
As many drops, in one pure river blend, 
Flow in one stream and to one ocean tend, 
O may we still a sacred unit stand, 
And scatter blessings o'er a guilty land : 
United ! lo ! we bear the test of all 
Opposing foes ! but if divided fall ! 



AMERICAN METHODISM : 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



AMERICAN METHODISM. 



i. 

Sons of great Wesley, in the blooming land 
O'ershadowed by the Eagle's spreading wings ! 
Indulge the Minstrel, whose untutored hand 
Ventures, too boldly, o'er the trembling strings ; 
Your past renown, your present woes he sings ; 
Nor ever seeks your future weal the less, 
When truths unwelcome to your ear he brings, 
Than when invoking Heaven all good to bless, 
And crown, in holy war, your armies with success. 

II. 

Why, oh ye valiant for the Lord of Hosts, 
Ye who have vanquished thousands in the fight — 
Why cast away your armor, quit your posts, 
And basely from exulting foes take night 1 
A thousand times ye chased the sons of night — 
Their castles stormed, and raised your banner high 
Above their ramparts ; where its folds of light 
Sent streaming confiscations o'er the sky, 
That kindled hope on earth, and thrilled all heaven 
with joy. 

6 



62 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



III. 

A band of heroes, few but firm, ye rose, 
Braving the scorn of earth and ire of hell : 
For yours was strength immortal ; and your foes, 
Subdued, before your conquering progress fell ; 
Each captive won, your triumph served to swell; 
Himself a victor, waved the joyful palm, 
Pleased with the easy yoke, charmed with the spell, 
That quick transformed the lion to the lamb, 
And for his fiendish strife bestowed a hallowed calm. 

IV. 

Thus, marching in the greatness of your strength, 
Ye added to your gathering train, each year, 
Crowds of rejoicing captives : till at length, 
A million strong ye stood, and knew no fear ; 
Alas, that comrades, then, and brethren dear, 
Who in the common triumph bore their parts, 
Together toiled, and shed the soul-wrung tear, 
Should madly at their fellow soldier's hearts, 
Brandish their glittering swords, and hurl their fiery 
darts ! 

V. 

Veterans and chiefs in arms ! have we not sinned ? — 
Shall old successes plead for peace in vain ? — 
Behold your ranks by annual thousands thinned, 
Yourselves divided, and your children slain : 
Indulgent Heaven efface the crimson stain ! 
Contention's glowing Moloch fires remove : 
Our misdirected zeal, our wrath restrain : 
And o'er us hovering, let the holy Dove 
Bring back the olive branch, the type of peace and 
love. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



63 



VI. 

A truce, ye armies of the living God ! 
Hence with your mutual plaints and jealousy ! 
Unmeet that brethren — one in flesh and blood, — 
Should strive together, foe like, by the way : 
Oh, rather strive the flames of strife to stay ! 
With ancient friendship to your hearts restored, 
Kneel meekly at the throne of Heaven, and pray, 
Father, forgive each past ungentle word, 
And bind our hearts in one, with love's strong three- 
fold cord. 

VII. 

Would it were now as in the olden date, 
When o'er the soul of Israel's primal king, 
An evil spirit of delirious hate, 
Sat brooding mischief with his raven wing ; 
Then would the harper, loved in Zion, sing ; 
Though at his youthful breast, the Prince his dart, 
With hell-engendered energy, would fling • 
Until the soothing spell of tuneful art 
Stole, like the calm of heaven, upon the stormy heart. 

VIII. 

Thou God of harmony and peace and love, 
Some other trembling shepherd boy endow 
With skill the evil spirit to remove, 
And chase the clouds of anger from the brow ; 
And if the softest whisper might avow 
Thy placid presence in the former day, 
Oh, let the still small voice of harp-strings now, 
Bespeak the footsteps of thy Majesty ! 
While earthquake, fire and storm speed from thy path 
away. 



; 



64 AMERICAN METHODISM, 

IX. 

When at thy voice the lute of Wesley woke 
In sweetest notes of tenderness and grace- 
As once to Whitefield, long estranged, it spoke, 
And cheered him heavenward in the weary race ; 
How rose to vision in the magic lays 
The scenes which battle cloud had covered o'er ! 
How danced glad hope in prospect of the days 
When Zion's chieftains on th' elysian shore 
Should meet, with triumph crowned, and separate no 
more ! 

X. - 

There have they met, embraced, and found a seat, 
Beneath some lofty shadowing evergreen ; 
Life's crystal river flowing at their feet, 
While nigh the radiant mount of God is seen : 
And now, their holy hymns of praise between, 
Converse they of the darker days long spent, 
When struggling in polemic contest keen, 
Each on his brother's overthrow was bent, 
Deeming him foe to truth, by vile Abaddon sent. 

XI. 

The veil through which they dimly saw below, 
And seeing dimly, oft mistook the road, 
Is gone : and in the clearer light they know 
That each the path of Providence pursued : 
Their separation, overruled for good, 
Has scattered far and wide the gospel seed — 
On soils distinct, diverse, profusely strewed : 
And party fields of various name and creed 
Have shared the shower of grace, as greatly they had 
need. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



65 



XII. 

The power of godliness — the vital power- — 
Was thine, oh, Methodism ! to propagate ; 
To call from heaven the fertilizing shower, 
The earth in holiness to new create ; 
Thine was the calling, holy, high, and great, 
To spread the quickening, sanctifying zeal, 
Throughout the scattered church's wide estate ; 
That like the leaven hidden in the meal, 
It might through all the lump its working life reveal. 

XIII. 

Where'er the form of godliness was known 
(The form without the power is cold as death) 
'Twas thine to animate the heart of stone, 
And breathe into the clay the living breath : — 
To teach the power of justifying faith : 
Which works by love, and purifies the heart : 
That this, and not the party shibboleth 
Of orthodoxy, forms, or priestly art, 
Salvation could secure and peace divine impart. 

XIV. 

There, also, where the form itself was lost, 
Nor served as fW-leaf covering for their sin : 
Their naked shame their only joy and boast, 
All vile without and viler still within : 
Whose nights were spent in revelry and din, 
Their days in wretched drudgery and gloom, 
'Twas thine their murky caves to enter in; 
To meliorate their hopeless, hapless doom, 
And cheer with heaven's own light their noisome liv- 
ing tomb. 

6* 



66 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XV. 

Wherever real, heartfelt piety 
Had never found a place, or disappeared : 
Wherever stately, stiff theology 
Sat, goddess like, on text book throne, revered 
As all in all ; as also where upreared 
A lax morality its shameless head, 
Or noxious theory, by time endeared, 
There was the fitting place for thee to spread 
The reign of vital truth, and bring: to life the dead, 

XVI. 

Full many worse than fruitless fields were found, 
Where sprung no vigorous shoots of righteousness ; 
But thorns and thistles covered all the ground, 
And useless weeds and noxious grew apace ; 
There stout-armed Methodism prepared the place, 
Uprooted weeds and thorns and thistles vile ; 
And planted deep the healthy germs of grace, 
Which rooted in a good and genial soil, 
Repaid in time with fruit the hardy tiller's toil, 

XVII. 

How hath the spoiler entered and laid waste ! 
As when a foe at midnight, malice-borne, 
Invades, with serpent stealth and guilty haste 
Where ripened crops the peaceful vale adorn, 
And plies his fagot to the standing corn ; 
Quick run the flames and spread with vengeful ire, 
Till, ere the flushes of returning morn, 
The waving fields glow like a sea of fire, 
And Heaven's rich harvest boons are sunk in ruin dire, 



A PLEA FOR UNITY, 



67 



XVIII. 

Thus hath the old destroyer in his rage — 
Bloated with envy thus and filled with wrath — 
Entered our peaceful, hopeful heritage, 
And scattered coals of hell about his path ; 
The horrid fires of discord, tell it not in Gath, 
In God's own cherished husbandry are rife, 
And threaten all our joyous hopes with death : 
Up, brethren, up, and quench the brands of strife ; 
Work, struggle, pray for peace and concord as for 
life. 

XIX. 

Your Shepherd King your unity demands, 
Fraternal sympathy and bonds of love ; 
What though divided into separate bands, 
Like Jacob's flocks his watchful care ye prove ; 
Led by his rod of guidance ye may move, 
As heretofore, in pastures green and sweet, 
Beside the flowing rills : and in the grove, 
Sheltered at noontide from the summer heat, 
Together rest in peace, around your Shepherd's feet. 

XX. 

What wild infatuation in your breast 
Thus prompts you, oh ye flocks of Israel, 
To rush together fiercely, crest to crest, 
And madly strive each other's ranks to fell ] 
Why thus incensed against each other swell, 
As if by fury moved and jealousy ? 
Why break upon each other's folds pell-mell, 
And rashly trample down and rend and slay ] 
Alas, that sheep should seem so much like beasts of 
prey. 



68 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XXI. 

Now hearken to your gentle shepherd's call, 
Inviting you to pastures green and broad ; 
He comes to feed, to lead and cherish all, 
And kindly chides you with his pastoral rod ; 
" Why, oh my sheep, the purchase of my blood, 
Whom, lost, I sought and found with great delight, 
And made myself a sacrifice to God, 
In one your scattered wanderers to unite, 
Why, oh my ransomed flocks, why thus unseemly 
light." 

XXII. 

Abate your strife, your angry passions check, 
And let him into flowery meadows guide : 
Come, learn to follow at your Leader's beck, 
And feed in peace and safety side by side ; 
By His unerring judgment still abide : 
Tis His to censure, punish and to slay ; 
Yours in his wisdom meekly to confide ; 
His to command, your portion to obey; 
Thus shall you find him still your guardian night and 
day. 

XXIII. 

And thus shall ye again with joy appear, 
A fruitful, prosperous and increasing fold ; 
And multiply your strength from year to year, 
As Jacob's flocks were multiplied of old : 
Nor summer's scorching heat, nor winter's cold, 
Shall e'er his sleepless vigilance impair ; 
Proof of his depth of yearning love untold, 
Which taught him neither toil nor life to spare, 
For you his darling flock, his treasure and his care. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



69 



XIV. 

Thou Glorious Shepherd of the sheep bestow 
The graces which thy people so much need ! 
That we by works of charity may show, 
To all the world, that we are thine indeed : 
But if by one another's hands we bleed — 
If brother in his brother cannot trust, 
How can the holy enterprise succeed ] 
The house against itself divided must 
Fall crashing to the earth, and crumble into dust. 

XXV. 

Saviour of Sinners ! when the storm clouds lower, 
To Thee, our Strength, our Counsellor, we go ! 
To Thee, united by thy Spirit's power, 
Cling all thy various membership below : 
Instruct us, our immortal Head to know, 
That all the life and grace that each receives 
From Thee, the great eternal Life-spring flow ; 
Thy Spirit in the Church, thy body, lives, 
And unity of heart — of aim and action gives* 

XXVI. 

The membership are many — yet are one : 
One body, governed by one living soul : 
To every fibre doth the life stream run, 
Stirs every part and actuates the whole : 
What member owns no more its sweet control, 
Is dead — insensible to joy or smart; 
Nor feels the permeating current roll, 
Which gave it union with the head and heart, 
Nor can in life's great task perform its fitting part. 



70 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XX VII. 

Union with Thee our Head is chief and prime : 
And union with each other next succeeds ; 
To separate from Thee is damning crime : 
To this our severance from each other leads ; 
The body cut and mangled, writhes and bleeds : 
And thou art torn with many a horrid gash, 
And scandalized by our schismatic deeds : — 
Our words and tempers, piercing, sharp and rash. 
Rend like the iron nails thy keenly sentient flesh. 

XXVIII. 

Thy Church thy body is — thy flesh and bones — 
(The Head, the Spirit thou — the life of love,) 
Pierced by the sword of angTy strife it groans ; 
The pang thrills through the soul, and head above ; 
What agonies thy suffering members prove 
Are all thine own ; for thou art one with them ; 
One impulse doth the Head and members move : 
To shame the members is the Head to shame : 
To injure them, and Thee to injure, is the same. 

XXIX. 

What dread remorse the wretched soul must know. 
Who fastened to the Avood thy quivering flesh ; 
But heavier still must be the culprit's wo, 
Who doth with scorpion- whip of satire lash, 
And crucify the Son of God afresh ; 
With pointed pen of steel and adder tongue; 
Inflicting on thy bosom gash on gash ; 
Better a millstone round his neck were hung, 
And he, from towering cliff, were into ocean flung. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



XXX. 

Wo, to the guilty of the sin of schism ! 
Even for thy seamless coat they cast the lot ; 
The Church's outward dress — its organism — 
May not be parted for a thing of naught; 
Ne'er should the vesture, suiting, finely wrought, 
Obey the fashion's changeful whims and pride ; 
Such wilful changes are with danger fraught ; 
But waxing old, and tending to divide, 
It may be then re-formed, or haply laid aside. 

XXXI. 

When, by its wide extension and increase, 
The Church outgrows its old modality — 
When, for the sake and maintainance of peace, 
One to another part doth kindly say, 
" Let each in love pursue a separate way," 
As to his fiiend the faithful Abraham said : — 
This is not schism, but its meet remedy ; 
A separation for the Gospel's spread, 
For future higher weal, and for convenience made. 

XXXII. 
If, in a mutually accorded mode, 
Two portions thus consent in peace to part, 
With honest purpose, and for greater good, 
Eschewing words and tempers rash and tart : — 
Although with travailing agonies and smart, 
The Church maternal sends her offspring forth, 
Such separation, being not of heart, 
Is, providentially, a church's birth, 
And adds a daughter fair to God's own house on 
earth. 



72 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XXXIII. 

That is not schism where hearts unrent remain, 
And christian confidence, and mutual love ; 
Externally they may appear as twain, 
But inwardly the common life they prove ; 
United to the living Head above, 
And to each other, by their part in Him, 
They in their several spheres conjointly move, 
Partaking from the heart the common stream, 
And those great offices perform, that each beseem. 

XXXIV. 

Who are schismatics, therefore ? Those are they, 
Who from the love of brethren separate ; 
From peace and christian kindness go astray, 
And angry, sinful strife perpetuate ; 
Such angry contests end too oft in hate ; 
And they who hate their brethren hate their God : 
How much soever they may vainly prate 
Of gifts and comforts by his grace bestowed, 
The curse is on their souls, and they must bear the 
load. 

XXXV. 

'Tis anger, strife and malice we should dread; 
These are the enemies we should oppose : 
Bruise the seductive serpent envy's head, 
And crush all wrathful feelings as our foes ; 
Our passions are the parents of our woes ; 
They blind the judgment and the will pervert ; 
By passion's torch, the fruit forbidden, shows, 
As luscious food of most benignant sort, 
Which, God's own threat despite, can surely never 
hurt. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



73 



XXXVI. 

Hence, hence with passion, then ; let reason rule ; 
Only the law of kindness doth she speak : 
He who obeys her voice may be a fool 
In this rash world's account ; — denounced as weak 
And cowardly, for daring to be meek : 
But angels, who in brighter circles move, 
'Mid whom he doth his crown of glory seek, 
Look down with radiant eyes of joy and love, 
And speak of him as meet to walk the realms above. 

XXXVII. 

Peace, peace, ye warring Sons of Methodism ! 
End now and evermore this family jar: 
In your great body let there be no schism : 
Seek, eastern Sages, as of old, the star 
Of peace ; ye western Chiefs the scimitar 
Of conflict sheath, and give the battle o'er : 
No longer, North and South, hurl from afar 
Your javelins of strife; forget, deplore 
Your former feuds, and meet in kind embrace once 
more. 

XXXVIII. 
The honor of your common name demands 
That ye should settle terms of amity : 
What ! can the sons of Wesley not shake hands 
Because they cannot to the jot agree ] 
How can ye then his children claim to be, 
Who gave the hand of fellowship with speed, 
And heart of christian love, so full and free, 
To all, whate'er their party name or creed, 
Who sought with honest heart to serve the Lord in- 
deed. 

7 



74 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XXXIX. 

Cannot agree ! nor friendly bonds resume ! 
Must still for party victory contend ! 
Cannot agree ! Oh tell it not in Rome ! 
Proclaim it not to those who Homeward wend ! 
No whisper to the unbelieving send, 
Of this uncured schismatic rent and feud ; 
Lest we should hear their sneering voices blend 
In taunts and gibes, and laughter loud and rude, 
At follies so grotesque, long-lived, and oft renewed. 

XL. 

Ah ! they have heard it — swift from man to man, 
From group to group, their buzzing ranks along, 
The scoff-exciting welcome story ran, 
Cheered every heart, and tripped from every tongue ; 
"We are become the drunken harlot's song, 
"Who on the monstrous beast in scarlet clad, 
Sits, worshipped by a kneeling, gaping throng ; 
Triumph (she cries,) my votaries, and be glad ; 
God would destroy my foes, and hence he makes them 
mad. 

XLI. 

Loud sound the revels of that vassal host, 
Which borne upon the ether far and near, 
Reach, with their echoes, every priest-rid coast, 
And fill her drudging legions with good cheer ; 
Nor these alone the news with triumph hear ; 
But church adorers, worshippers of means, 
Of every shade and caste, enjoy the jeer; 
And infidelity her clans convenes, 
And from our crop of woes, her sheaf of comfort gleans. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



75 



XLII. 

Oli, must we be the byword, scoff, and hiss, 
Of anti-christian, unbelieving men 1 
Our quarrels filling fiends in hell with bliss, 
And friendly angel hearts in heaven with pain ! 
Once could we beard the lion in his den ; — 
Meet protean anti-christ in every form, 
Assured that every conflict would be gain ; 
Our unity was strength, a heavenly charm, 
That terrified our foes, and warded us from harm. 

XLIII. 

And is it gone ] that heaven-descended shield ] 
Forever gone, that armor strong and bright % 
And must we ever to our foemen yield, 
And from pursuing enemies take flight ? 
From whence this deadly pestilential blight, 
That decimates our once triumphant bands ; 
Staggers their courage, enervates in fight, 
Those heretofore resistless, restless hands, 
That carried victory through all invaded lands % 

XLIV. 

Heaven be propitious ! give us inward peace, 
And unity of spirit quickly send ; 
Then shall our sorrowful reverses cease ; 
Success, again our armies shall attend ; 
The flag of Union, shall our faith defend ; 
Its " stars and stripes" our fainting souls shall cheer ; 
Its floating folds our fortunes shall amend, 
As reads each eye the old inscription dear, 
"E pluribus unum" the antidote to fear. 



76 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XLV. 

There is a battle pending : lo, from far 
Are seen the gathering, thronging, moving hosts ! 
The earth is trembling with the signs of war ; 
From Asia, Africa, and Europe's coasts ; 
From tropic climates and the realms of frosts ; 
From Occident and orient away, 
The instrumental hordes haste to their posts, 
The master spirits of the age t' obey 
In the grand system-strife of the impending day. 

XL VI. 

America ! thy ample shores shall see 
The hottest of the conflicts that portend ; 
Here shall the valley of decision be, 
And here the mighty sacrifice shall end. 
See Rome, her vassals by the legion send 
To take possession of thy valleys wide ; 
To every nook their trooping myriads wend, 
Throng every ocean, lake, and river side, 
Or, steam-borne, strong in hope, swift o'er the billows 
glide. 

XL VII.. 

The powers of darkness, and the powers of light, 
Are mustering now their forces for that hour ; 
Approaches near the last great dreadful fight, 
The storm-clouds of the final battle lower ; 
Union alone can wield sufficient power 
To stand the shock, when earth and hell assail, 
With such fierce zeal, that lion hearts may cower. 
And heroes, clad in adamantine mail, 
Before the yelling hordes of ravening demons quail. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



XLVIIL. 

High valor is demanded for that day ; 
G-reat firmness in the armies of the Lord ; 
Compactly must they stand in bright* array — 
Each soldier with his shield and two-edged sword ; 
Stand, move, advance, engage, with strict accord, 
As if one heart in every bosom beat ; 
As if they heard their great Commander's word, 
In solemn accents in their ears repeat, 
" Union is victory — division is defeat." 

XLIX. 

Canst thou, oh Methodism, perform thy part 
In this great struggle which must soon ensue 1 
Canst thou, with torn, divided, bleeding heart, 
To God and to mankind thy duty do ? 
Thy mission great, thy destined work review 
And learn what thy position high demands ; — - 
Union of soul and heart affection true ; 
That these, in battle fierce, may nerve thy hands, 
And make invincible, thy leagued and love-mailed 
bands. 

* L. 

What ! when the foe's advancing banners wave ! 
When gleams his furbished armor in our eyes ! 
Then of our petty, party feuds to rave, 
And 'gainst each other in our haste to rise ! 
What could be more destructive or unwise ! 
' Tis our defeat, 'tis triumph to our foes ! 
Were satan's self a project to devise 
To ruin us, and Christ's good cause t ? oppose, 
He could not forge a plot of more malignant woes. 

7* 



78 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LI. 

Fathers and brethren, well-esteemed and great, 
Think of the debt ye to your Country owe ; 
Oh think what evils to our glorious state, 
From our protracted controversies flow! 
How from these small beginnings there may grow 
A sectional and rancorous civil feud, 
Which Freedom's cherished hopes may overthrow : 
And war's red hand, with our best blood bedewed, 
Strike from our nation's name, all that is grand and 
good. 

LII. 

How blessed is the land o'er which we roam ! 
The sun beholds no other land so fair ; 
Here Providence allots our peaceful home, 
Amid ten thousand gifts and blessings rare. 
For our great country's welfare let our prayer, 
From honest, faithful, fervent hearts ascend, 
That God may make our Government his care ; 
From foes without, and foes within defend, 
And be Himself, our Guide, our Governor and Friend. 

LIII* 

Aloft, thou Eagle, with the jDiercing eye ; 
"Wide spread thy golden wings upon the gale : 
Up , mounting proudly to the glorious sky, 
Oh never let thy sight or pinion fail ; 
Up, up, brave eagle ; boldly heavenward sail, 
And cast thy telescopic eye abroad 
O'er mountain, prairie, river, lake, and vale, 
And sketch the wide inheritance bestowed, 
? Fresh in its beauty's bloom, as Eden newly trod. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



79 



LIV. 

The morn's ascending glory softly breaks 
Over ten thousand stately mountain heads ; 
Dances upon a thousand glassy lakes, 
And o'er ten thousand verdant valleys spreads : 
Ten thousand rivers offer from their beds 
Their misty incense to the god of day : 
Unnumbered forests, millenarian shades, 
Relax their frigid horrors in his ray, 
And myriad prairie plains their floral gems display, 

LV. 

Lo, here the Iris-crowned Nigara ! He, 
With more than Sapphic leap, and passion fonder, 
Seeking the bosom of his spouse, the sea, 
Wrenches his adamantine bonds asunder ; 
And plunging headlong down, a world-wide wonder, 
Into the dread cavernous fissure hurls : 
There, with tremendous roar of deep toned thunder, 
In many a mazy dance of eddying twirls, 
His milk-white sea of foam, with fury onward whirls. 

LVL 

And yonder trace the rolling Sire of Waters, 
A line of beauty glittering in the sun ; 
Fed by a thousand tributary daughters, 
Who, dancing, to his breast paternal run ; 
From many flows, at length a matchless one, 
The prince of rivers, and our country's boast ; 
Shaming old Nile and wide-mouthed Amazon ; — 
He springs from far off hoary realms of frost, 
Over a continent, to bathe its sunburnt coast. 



so 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LVII. 

Along the lofty Apalachian ridge 
Now cast thy veering vision bird divine ; 
Spanning the country like a rock-built-bridge, 
Far north begins the convoluted line ; 
Far south the mountain foldings intertwine ; 
A beautiful and glorious range of hills, 
The lurking place of many a precious mine, 
The nursery of myriad sparkling rills : 
To those blue brows my heart owes many joyous 
thrills ! 

LVITL 

Now sunward Soarer, thy position change, 
And turn thee toward the occidental shore ; 
See there another loftier, lengthier range 
Of Alpine peaks than held thy view before ; 
Gaze, 'raptured, on those ancient temples hoar, 
Reflecting back the radiance of the morn ! 
Adown those slopes what rushing torrents roar ! 
The teeming rivers, which the vales adorn, 
From the eternal snows that crown those heights are 
born. 

LIX. 

From north to south, two minglin gr seas extend : 
Two mountain cables stretch themselves between, 
Tire vast extremes in one to comprehend ; 
While, midway, looking north and south, is seen 
A fertile valley clothed in living green, 
Through which the kino- of waters rolls his tide. 
As proud of his magnificent demesne ; 
He throws his myriad arms on every side, 
A realm of boundless wealth maintaining well his 
pride. 



A PLEA EOR UNITY. 



81 



LX. 

Hail home of beauty, and of amplitude ! 
Region of vastness and of grandeur, hail ! 
Here Nature's highest boons are richest strewed ; 
And here her works are on the loftiest scale ; 
O'er flood and land doth amplitude prevail ; 
Great are the oceans and the rivers, great 
The lakes, the bays, the prairie, plain, and vale ; 
Mountains and forests share the grand estate, 
As shadowing forth in types our country's glorious 
fate, 

LXL 

Yet higher rise, my Eagle, higher rise, 
And from thy central, all-observing sphere, 
Revert thy vision down the eastern skies, 
And mark that vessel toward the haven near ; 
Others, at shortening intervals appear, 
Bearing for ports along the indented strands ; — 
Freighted with voyagers to Heaven dear, 
With tyrant-hating, hardy, storm-nursed bands, 
Who seek their God and homes, in these thick-wooded 
lands. 

LXII. 

Scarce are the perils of their voyage o'er ; 
Scarce with the voice of gratitude and prayer, 
Have the bold pilgrims touched the new-found shore, 
Till thundering- tree-falls echo through the air : 

o o 

The ancient woods, of savage beasts the lair, 
And savage men, before th' adventurers bow ; 
As if by magic is the soil laid bare ; 
And fields of waving grain and verdure, now, 
Crown with abundant crops the labor of the plough. 



82 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LXIII. 

Along those coasts, both far and near, behold 
The sturdy woodman's weapon, stroke on stroke, 
Humbling the giants of the forest old, 
The lofty, resinous fir, and sacred oak ; 
The earth, divested of her woody cloak, 
Throws wide her virgin bosom to the skies ; 
While countless curls of life-betokening smoke, 
Up from the recent forest openings rise, 
And myriad rural homes and hamlets greet our eyes. 

LXIV. 

The hamlet rude, a village quick becomes; 
The village soon into a city swells, 
And multiplies its spacious, glittering domes, 
Its mansions proud, its warlike citadels, 
And heavenward spires, with Sabbath-sounding bells. 
Its lengthened streets with noisy throngs are filled, 
Whose hurried step of bustling business tells, 
And thirst for pleasure, fame and gold, revealed 
In that pervading din, by day and night instilled. 

LXV. 

Nor one such wonder only greets our eyes ; 
But all along th' extended ocean shore, 
Unnumbered goodly towns and cities rise, 
Where waved of late the elm and sycamore, 
And marshes, fens and forests stood before. 
Meanwhile the restless pioneering bands, 
Deeper and wider still the wilds explore ; 
And with an energy that naught withstands, 
Transform the wilderness to cultivated lands. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



83 



LXVI. 

In vain the wolf, the panther and the bear 
Ferociously defend their old domain; 
In vain the red men in their wrath prepare 
Those ardent, bold intruders to restrain : 
As soon the lion from his prey abstain, 
As they their new discovered prize to quit : 
All hindrances, all perils with disdain 
They quick surmount, and tread beneath their feet ; 
No slackened progress theirs, no halting, no retreat. 

LXVII. 

For them the pathless wilderness rejoices ; 
The forests own their magisterial sway ; 
The distant mountains call them with their voices ; 
The sun declining westward points the way; 
Westward, still westward do the rovers stray ; 
O'er valleys, hills and rivers fleetly bound; 
Nor on the heights of Alleghania stay, 
But gazing, ravished, on the prospect round, 
Dare with exulting shouts the ultra wilds profound. 

LXVIII. 

With trembling awe the dark trans-montane woods 
Bend to the earth their leafy summits tall; 
And giants of the ancient solitudes, 
Before the omnipresent conquerors fall. 
New miracles, shall we these doings call ] 
In every valley, upland, dell, and plain, 
Waxes the city vast, or village small ; 
And cottages, like flowers, spring up amain, 
'Mid velvet lawns of grass, and fields of golden grain. 



84 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LXIX. 

Cot after cot and village after village, 
And settlement to settlement succeeds ; 
Wild after wild resigns its soil to tillage ; 
The ploughshare through its swarthy bosom speeds, 
And turns the wilderness to blooming meads ; 
Where yesterday the elk and bison ranged, 
Now the ox pastures and the courser feeds : 
How swiftly, wondrously, are all things changed ; 
The white man denizened— the red displaced, es- 
tranged. 

LXX. 

From Erie's billow to remotest south ; 
From sands Atlantic to the Rocky Height, 
And o'er its turrets to Columbia's mouth, 
All yield to their indomitable might : 
Their sateless, territorial appetite 
Nor brooks restraint, nor honors mete or bound : 
Where blooming vales, where fertile soils invite, 
The new born race American is found, 
Proving by potent deeds their title to the ground. 

LXXI. 

Illustrious race ! for man and glory born ! 
Children of progress and of Providence ! 
To you the hopeful eyes of nations turn, 
And Freedom owns you for her last defence ; 
With liberal, lofty-souled munificence, 
Ye charter to the sons of every land, 
A portion of your rich domain immense ; 
And generously, to all who touch your strand, 
Give refuge from the storm, and warmly welcome 
hand. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



85 



LXXIL 

The fame of your great realm without a king, 
Reaches to every haunt of suffering man; 
And hurrying thither on the tempest's wing, 
They flock from every kingdom, clime and clan ; 
The tiller of the soil, the artizan, 
The man of letters and the man of trade, 
Speed to the country where the toiling can 
By head, or hand, or tongue, or pen, or spade, 
Find for themselves and heirs a peaceful home and 
bread. 

• - 

LXXIII. 

Old mother Albion bestows with grace 
Her ruddiest sons from her maternal breast, 
To constitute the stamen of the race, 
She calls, well-pleased, her offspring— and her best ; 
And Erin, green, beloved, and oppressed, 
Transmits her quota from her sacred sod, 
To form the compound lineage of the West — 
A quota of her warmest, noblest blood, 
Struck from her wo- worn heart, by the afflicting rod* 

LXXIV. 

Here, also, in the aggregation blends 
Germania, patient, plodding, sedulous ; 
Her thrifty offspring by the crowds she sends,[Russ, 
With Scot, and Frank, and Dane, and Swede, and 
Who shun their native coasts and hie to us : 
From European thrones and faults disjoined, 
They mingle in one race magnanimous ; 
A race eclectic, out of all combined, 
Their better traits improved, their evil left behind. 



8 



86 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LXXV. 

Hail ! favored realm, by Providence ordained, 
In arms, in arts, in all things to excel ; 
To thee, thy stature scarcely half attained, 
The blushing world affords no parallel ; 
On every sea thy sails of commerce swell ; 
Thy wares and fame abound in all the earth : 
If in thy childhood's morn thou doest well, 
Like Hercules, heroic from thy birth, 
Who, in thy manhood's age, shall celebrate thy worth ? 

LXXVI. 

Once more, thou S oarer, turn thy searching glance 
Along those lakes, those rivers, gulfs and bays ; 
What vessel seest thou o'er the billows dance, 
Which neither mast nor swelling sail displays ; 
But shafts cylindrical their summits raise, [stream, 
From whose black nostrils murky smoke clouds 
While furnaces beneath like Yulcan's blaze ; 
And ever and anon, a direful scream, 
Speaks the impatience dread of panting, prisoned 
steam. 

LXXVIL 

This is thy Ship, my Eagle; all thine own : 
Which no propelling wind nor current needs ; 
But by her in-made, self-borne power alone, 
Against both driving wind and current speeds, 
Nor swollen rivers' deluge rush impedes ; 
Now walks she on the deep a life-like thing, 
And now with curvilinear sweep proceeds, 
Round jagged river points, with agile swing, 
That rivals in its grace thine own fleet golden wing ! 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



87 



LXXVII1. 

Behold them swan-like gliding o'er the lakes ; 
Over the rivers, bays and seas diffuse ; 
Their number like the winter's snowy flakes, 
Or like the summer's bright uncounted dews ; 
One class the river's winding path pursues ; 
Another o'er the laky basin swims ; 
This doth the ocean's deeper billow choose, 
And this upon the shallow inland streams, 
'Mid snags and shelving rocks, o'er bars and rapids 
skims. 

LXXIX. 

Yet, mark that foaming iron courser, leading 
A score of landships in adhering trail ; 
The swiftest chariots of the wind outspeeding, 
As shooting onward on his smooth laid rail, 
He dashes over upland, over vale ; 
Now over hills, or round, or thro' them sweeping, 
Like Phoebus coursing with the solar mail ; 
The sinuous pathway of the stream now keeping, 
And now o'er rivers, chasms and marshes rattling, 
leaping. 

LXXX. 

See, running, ramified, in all directions, 
The road, the railway, river and canal, 
With countless junctions, tappings, intersections, 
Through the vast system geographical ; 
They yield the body's life and strength withal, 
Like bones and sinews, arteries and veins, 
While with the far extremes the Capital, 
By network lines of telegraphic chains, 
As with the nerves of sense, close intercourse main- 
tains. 



88 



AMERICAN METHODISM. 



LXXXI. 

America ! though thou thy fame art brightening, 
By deeds heroic, marvels of the age, 
Thy brighest chaplet is the conquered lightning, 
A halo round thy name on glory's page : 
Honors immortal to thy son, the Sage, 
Who seized with giant hand the thunder-horse, 
And pent him like a lion in a cage : 
But thine the feat, great lightning-tamer, Morse, 
To rule the steed of fire as with thy finger's force ! 

LXXXIL 
Others the monarchs of the forest train 
(Who but Americans should dare the deed ] ) 
To wear the harness and obey the rein ; 
To Morse belongs a more illustrious meed, 
Who makes the living thunderbolt his steed, 
And guides him as a meek and docile thing : 
Which, distancing old Time himself in speed, 
Carries the news on hyppogriinc wing, 
Clearing a thousand miles at one tremendous spring. 

LXXXIII. 
What if the mighty empire still extend 
Farther and farther from the civil head ; 
The sons of Liberty still farther wend, 
The enterprizing rovers wider spread ; 
The railway line and telegraphic thread, 
At once annihilating time and space, 
Will follow them to every wild they tread ; 
And every distant portion of the race 
Bind in one glorious realm — one nation's fond em- 
brace. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY, 



89 



LXXXIY. 
Then multiply by millions — multiply — 
God speaks the Eden blessing here anew; 
The whole New World's vast surface occupy, 
Appropriate, replenish, and subdue : 
Quick fill its valleys green and mountains blue, 
With swarms of men, and flocks, and herds, and corn; 
And prove the old inspired prediction true, 
As templed towns each vale and height adorn, 
A nation, great and good, shall in a day be born. 

LXXXV. 

There is a schoolboy in this land prolific, 
With open atlas to his comrades telling, 
Where flow the Lakes, th' Atlantic and Pacific, 
And where our arms the Mexicans are felling — 
That boy shall see a hundred millions dwelling, 
Beneath the shadow of my Eagle's wings : 
And yet the sum by God's first blessing swelling, 
And by the hordes which emigration brings, 
From far off realms made poor by grasping priests 
and kings. 

L XXXVI. 
My glorious country ! 'tis a pleasing duty, 
Which my too bold, untutored pen essays, 
To shadow forth the outlines of thy beauty, 
In these unpolished, hasty, rustic lays : 
Let others love on Alpine peaks to gaze ; 
And Italy's bright lakes and atmosphere, 
The hills of France, the lawns of England praise, 
I cling devoted to my country dear, 
Fairest of every clime, for man is happiest here. 



3* 



90 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



LXXXVII. 

Here, from the fertile soil with ease he draws, 
The robes that deck him and the fruits that feast ; 
While o'er him is the shield of equal laws, 
A government beyond compare the best ; 
Beneath our vine and fig tree here we rest, 
None daring to disturb or make afraid ; 
With education, arts and science blest, 
With agriculture, manufactures, trade ; 
And with Religion pure, and all her balmy aid. 

LXXXVIII. 

True, thou hast blots, my country, thou hast blots, 
Which all thy dazzling charms can ne'er conceal : 
I speak not now of these ; the sun has spots, 
Yet all below his genial blessings feel ; 
America ! the best, the brightest still ! 
And when thy starry banners are unfurled, 
The hearts of tyrants on their thrones congeal, [ed ; 
Lest from their heads their tottering crowns be hurl- 
Forever float that flag, the glory of the world ! 

LXXXIX. 

Yet are there graceless wretches who defame 
Thy sacred reputation to thy face y — 
Cast contumely on thy brilliant name, 
And seek thy lofty honors to abase : 
Dwelt they in such malignant realm or place, 
As they depict thee with their treasonous tongue, 
Scarce on soft couches would they end their race ; 
On gibbets haply would their heads be hung, 
Their headless trunks to dogs and hungry vultures 
flung. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY. 



91 



XC. 

Thy clemency thy fame and arms exceeds ; 
Scorn is thy punishment for such as they : 
My Eagle never on the carrion feeds, 
Nor condescends to ignominious prey : 
The blessed sun pursues his constant way, 
Nor heeds the clouds that rise to hide his light ; 
The clouds are gone, yet shines the king of day, 
The brighter for the temporary night ; 
Thus shines my country still more beautiful and bright. 

XCI. 

What pity if a lovely land like this 
Should be by angry faction rent in twain ? 
What pity if the home of earthly bliss 
Become the scene of hell-engendered pain ] 
G-od grant that civil war's ferocious reign, 
May ne'er obtrude within these Eden-bowers : — 
That brother shedding brother's blood, like Cain, 
May ne'er contaminate this soil of ours : 
Great Heaven avert the cloud that o'er us, blackening, 
lowers. 

XCIL 

The mighty bands that bind in one the state, 
Though strong as brass, may yet be worn and fretted 
By clashing interests, and by fierce debate : 
And fiery spirits, by ambition whetted, 
By sycophantic party praised and petted, 
Neglect the common glory for their own ; 
Unmindful how insolvently indebted 
They to their country are ; by which alone 
Their names and merits rare (!) to the wide world are 
known. 



92 AMERICAN METHODISM, 

XCIII. 

'Tis yours, ye Christians, to this freedom-realm, 
Peace, unity, stability to give ; 
To hold the hands that hold the nation's helm ; 
To stretch your mighty arms conservative, 
And prop the edifice in which you live : 
By prudent conduct, counsels, votes and prayers, 
This blessed country's safety to achieve : 
And, in despite of foes and deep laid snares, 
Transmit the heritage uninjured to your heirs. 

XCIV. 

And ye, my brethren nearest to my heart, 
Great, earnest, numerous sons of Methodism ! 
In this meet work have you a weighty part, 
The part of duty and of patriotism ; 
Maintain no more the attitude of schism ; 
Thus sanctifying by your deed and word, 
That sectional and fierce antagonism, 
By petty interests and ambition stirred, 
Which frets away and rends our Union's slackening 
cord. 

XCV. 

'Twere worthy children of the Grod of love, 
To sooth, admonish and expostulate ; 
Pacific counsels by your smiles t' approve, 
The violent by frowns t' intimidate ; 
To act conservatively in the state, 
Like seasoning salt, whose salutary essence 
Doth intermix with all, and penetrate 
To every portion with its healthful presence, 
Preventing in the mass, dissolving and putrescence. 



A PLEA FOR UNITY 



XCVI. 

God has a task, my brethren, in this nation, 
A glorious, honorable task for you ; 
To share in its political salvation ; 
With love reciprocal its parts t' imbue ; 
Keep this great providential aim in view, 
And ye shall blossom still like Aaron's rod ; 
But to your high vocation prove untrue, 
And on your temples by the hand of God, 
Shall soon the terror doom be written, " Ichabod." 

XCVII. 

Oh Thou, the Author and the Prince of peace, 
Head of the church and ruler of the nations ! 
Both church and state abundantly increase ; 
And their chief governmental convocations 
Replenish with great wisdom and great patience : 
Supreme ! within their halls thyself preside, 
And 'mid the storm of passions and temptations, 
The vessels safely o'er the billows guide, 
In fellowship, distinct, defying wind and tide. 

XCVIII. 

Now rest thee, Eagle, from thy fancy flight, 
And hovering o'er the capitolian dome, 
Outspread thy brooding pinions with delight, 
For ages long and brilliant yet to come : 
While ending thus my unpretending tome, 
One wish, one fervent prayer to Heaven aspires ; 
Forever spread thy wings o'er Freedom's home ; 
Forever, while a gazing world admires, 
Shout o'er thy country's weal, amid thy starry fires. 



94 



AMERICAN METHODISM, 



XCIX. 

Not one from that bright constellation fall ! 
But still another, and another yet, 
Like burning lamps in heaven's high vaulted hall, 
Like astral gems in night's dark coronet, 
Rise to their waving blue no more to set ; 
Brighter and brighter let their lustre glow, 
Till, in one flood of living radiance met, 
The freedom current o'er the world shall flow, 
Great boon of Heaven above to toiling man below. 

C. 

Church of my heart ! let thy undying flame, 
Kindled at God's own altar fires on high, 
Commingle with thy country's glory stream, 
Kindred in source, and natural ally ; 
Its fiercer brilliance soften, sanctify ; 
Nor e'er amid thy sister stars decline ; 
But in the concave of the moral sky, 
And firmly held within the hand divine, 
The first in magnitude, the first in glory shine. 



NOTES TO SKETCHES. 



NOTES. 



August arrives, and many a note is sent 
For preachers gifted, wise, and eloquent 

Page 8. 

The subject of petitioning for certain Preachers will in 
the end work its own cure ; it is in its nature extreme- 
ly unfair. Why should the Conference send a man to 
this or that Circuit merely because he is asked 1 Is the 
farce of petitioning (and a great deal of it is all farce) 
to set aside adaptation ; or the claims of a senior bro- 
ther ; or the judgment of Conference % What do many 
Circuits know respecting the preachers they ask for ? 
Why just this much ; the last year he was in such or 
such a Circuit; perhaps Manchester, Leeds, London, 
or Bristol ; does not an appointment to any of the above 
places constitute his patent, or rather passport to every 
other % Is it not taken for granted, that a man so sta- 
tioned, must have both abilites and claims, superior to 
his brethren. Meanwhile, where is justice % Where 
is equity ] Must he who has the best Circuit this year, 
for that only reason, have the best next : or is justice 
to take place in an impartial equalization of both the 
privations and privileges of the connection. The au- 
thor is very far from undervaluing the claims of his 
wise, eloquent, gifted, or senior brethren : let those who 
are so distinguished have the pre-eminence as far as 
reason, and the necessities of the connection require. 
But mere petitions, emanating, not unfrequently, from 
the unripe judgment of one solitary individual, are de- 
serving- of little notice. But is there no danger to 
Methodism from the above preference being given % 
Such petitions must greatly embarrass the Conference, 
and if four circuits petition for the same Preacher, 
will not three of them feel aggrieved by a denial I 
Moreover, do not such petitions stand in the way of 
some brother, who has both just reasons and strong 



98 



NOTES. 



claims, to solicit an appointment to such and such a 
Circuit ] It is a foolish assumption of superior dis- 
cernment, for a dozen men at a quarterly meeting, to 
think they know better than the Conference. And it 
is an equally false one to suppose that they have a 
greater love for, or interest in the cause than the whole 
body of preachers. Circuits have only a partial inter- 
est, and often act only from partial views : the Confer- 
ence takes a wider range, and embraces the whole 
economy in all its bearings and interests. Were they 
to act otherwise, they must consult the benefit of a 
part, to the prejudice of the whole ; a position not to 
be admitted, even upon the supposition of their acting 
from mere self-interest alone. For the interest of the 
whole body must ever be the interest of Conference. 
That some Circuits, as well as some Preachers, have 
greater claims than others, I will not deny ; but those 
claims should always be adjusted with an eye to strict 
justice and impartiality. The mere accidental prefer- 
ence of Circuits should never fonn the only reason for 
any man's appointment : respect should be paid to im- 
portant stations as well as to peculiar men ; but after 
all, the judgment of Conference is the only safe um- 
pire in such matters : and to that judgment, and not 
to fanciful petitions, are we to look for a steady and 
undeviatinof regard to the best interest of the whole 
connection. 

[The editor cannot fully accord with the sentiments 
and spirit of the above note. The laity in Methodist 
Churches should never be denied the right of petition ; 
nor should the practice of petitioning be denounced 
as improper. It is not improper in itself. It some- 
times assumes an improper form. When this is the 
case, the form should be modified, but the thing itself, 
when done properly, if not encouraged, should at least 
be admitted as lawful and becoming. For a Charge 
to make a representation of its condition and peculiar 
wants to the Conference, as in England, or to the 
Bishops and Presiding Elders, as in this country ; and 
to ask for a preacher whom they deem peculiarly quali- 
fied to serve the interests of the church among them, 
can, certainly, never be objectionable ; provided, they 
do not demand any particular man, and no other. It 



NOTES. 



99 



is an evidence of the interest they feel in the welfare 
of the Church, and is rather commendable than cen- 
surable. It is very true that, when a Charge demands 
this or that man, and assumes, if not in words, by then- 
tone and spirit, to dictate to the appointing power con- 
cerning the appointment, they are trespassing the laws 
and spirit of the itinerancy, and are acting in an un- 
methodistic manner. But when their petitions only 
contain a representation of their case, together with an 
expression of opinion as to the man or men who will 
suit them, and a request for his or their appointment, 
if it may be done consistently with the general interests 
of the Church, or without denying the just claims of 
others, such a petition is both lawful and right ; and. 
we may add, will be respected. — Editor.] 

Address him with a sour or surly tone, 
And pick his conduct, as they pick a bone. 

Page 10. 

Meanwhile, where is justice, mercy and love of God £ 
Common sense should prevent any body of christians 
from undervaluing their Ministers. A respect for 
themselves would suggest a different conduct ; and a 
reverence for the authority of scripture, would the 
matter at rest in a moment. But S p«ously; do we 
love the cause * then, truly, we should not 

« ngnt' 7 of those whose rise or fall involves to a 

certain extent that section of the " Lord's vineyard" in 
which they are called to labor. Perhaps it is one of 
the least pleasant fruits of the Itinerant system, that 
with the constant removals it superinduces a love of 
change. The prospect of which may often tend to 
weaken the motives for cultivating pastoral affection. 
A stated Ministry is not liable to this objection ; 
although it labors under many of a more serious cast. 
The solace of an affectionate congregation and people is 
not without its snares ; nor is the occasional neglect and 
coldness complained of in Itinerancy without its advan- 
tages : we all remember the fable of the sun and the wind. 
Perhaps it is owing to the levelling spirit of the times, 
that where this prevails less respect is paid to those 
who seem to have a shadow of authority than would 



100 



NOTES. 



otherwise be the case. Office alone is with many de- 
luded people the butt of ill nature and malevolence ; 
especially if a faithful Minister, in critical times, stand 
forth as a promoter of order and lawful authority. 
His regard for the harmony of society and the author- 
ity of Scripture, is, by some, construed into a love of 
tyranny, and a connivance at oppression. 

Under these circumstances, faithful Ministers 
have no alternative but to stand by one another in the 
hour of trial. 



When worn with toil the race of duty ends, 
Who are, alas, the hoary veterairs friends? 

Page 12. 

Perhaps this picture may have too deep a shade ; 
but the writer will be pardoned by his brethren, for 
having felt in a case where not to feel would be crim- 
inal in the highest degree. If the holy Scripture, in 
the wisdom of its institutions, has made provision for 
the efficient Minister in its explicit letter, can we for 
a moment suppose, that its compassionate spirit is ful- 
filled where there is no sufficient support for a worn- 
out laborer ] When a man has devoted the best ener- 
gies of kl« youth, vigor and life to the cause of God, 
with only a provision for present exigencies, 

reason, justice and honor, x. ;r v P tnat ne should be 
comfortably provided for in his old age. Min- 
isters have their full salaries when worn out in the ser- 
vice ; and has a worn-out Methodist Preacher fewer 
claims than others ] I say worn-out, for the nature of 
his duties, arduous and fatiguing, soon wear him out ; 
while the cold prospect before him, prevents him from 
sitting down, till he has literally only a remnant of 
painful and debilitated life left upon the web. In the 
King's service old officers have their full pay ; and is 
Religion less kind to its worn-out servants than the 
civil government of a nation 1 It may be objected ; 
we have a fund of justice, a legalized fund, allowing 
from 24 to 30 guineas per annum; and that we have 
a fund of mercy to eke out in cases of extreme necessity. 
Alas ! unless this be better supported than of late, 
they must be cases of great necessity indeed, where 



NOTES. 



101 



any relief is likely to be obtained. May our rich and. 
opulent friends, when they are musing upon what ob- 
jects of mercy to bestow a portion of their beneficence, 
remember the Methodist Preachers' merciful fund ; 
and make it a fund of mercy in reality. 

Some rare or old conceit, no matter which. 
So Gerund thought, makes every subject rich. 

Page 13. 

This is an age for novelty ; the rage of something- 
new is universal. Old books are ransacked to furnish 
quaint ideas, which when new were little esteemed ; 
but, having become old, are as much prized as the 
precious rust of Julius Caesar's breast plate. Plain 
truth, like plain clothes, is becoming unfashionable: 
and Athens Redivivus may soon become the order of 
the day. A little while ago the author had the morti- 
fication of hearing a sermon at a Missionary Meeting, 
so full of nice points, curious conceits, and far-fetched 
allusions, seriously he was induced to believe the ex- 
cellent Preacher had got his head among the clouds : 
it was far above the level of the author's understanding-, 
and from what he could learn, very few present could 
fathom the depth, or soar to the summit of the Preach- 
er's reasoning ; and yet he is a man of an excellent 
genius, and, would he imitate a Preacher I dare not 
mention, he might rise to true greatness. I would here 
ask, need any preaching be deeper than John Wesley's ? 
I should have said finer, deeper it cannot be. To any 
one who is in danger of the above exuberance of wit, 
profusion of similie, prettiness of ornament, far-fetched 
allusions, pompous diction, affectation of learning, &c. 
I would affectionately recommend a careful perusal of 
the history of Friar Gerund. 

Thy peerless hymns, each nice distinction trace 
Each shade of mind, each lineament of grace. 

Page 17. 

Charles Wesley had almost the exclusive patent of 
the harp of David ; he was one of the sweetest wri- 
ters of hymns the world ever saw. Compare his 
lovely compositions with most of the double distilled 
. 9* 



102 



NOTES. 



of the present day (I mean modern hymns) and the 
croaking of the frog but serves to endear the melody of 
the nightingale. His harp was always in tune : hence, 
his fine verses unite the depths of piety, with the beau- 
ties of poetry : for he was no less acquainted with the 
hill of Parnassus, than with that of Zion ; and had he 
devoted his noble genius to subjects of another kind, he 
would have ranked high among the poets of the age. 
When his harp was hung upon the willows, if touched, 
it gave the finest tones of pensive grief ; see his hymns 
written chiefly for backsliders. While he warbles the 
sorrows of a penitent heart, his soothing strains touch 
the tender chord of infelt contrition, and soothe the 
wounded spirit into the delightful hope of pardon and 
acceptance. As he sweeps the cheerful notes of praise, 
the affections take wing, and mount in an ecstacy of 
delight to the third heaven. And when he strikes the 
deep full chord of perfect love, he unveils the whole 
" mystery of godliness," and fires the upright heart 
with the love of purity and truth. Although in some 
of his hymns there are elegant classical allusions, yet 
his sole intention is to display the beauties of holiness 
through the crystal medium of most delightful poetry. 
He improves every incident, with the pure intention 
that "a verse may catch Mm who a sermon flies, and 
turn delight into a sacrifice." In reading many of the 
selections of the present day, one often meets with 
some of his lovely compositions shining through the "dini 
obscure" like a star of the first magnitude, and though 
often garbled and mangled by the injudiciousness of 
the selector, they have not lost all their original bright- 
ness. Sometimes, indeed, through ignorance I have 
seen them ascribed to others ; not unfrequently have 
their wings been cut, and a few "feeble expletives" 
tagged to them, probably to prevent their eclipsing the 
motley group among which they have been compelled 
to stand. Sometimes, through — but I will not mention 
it — they have been without a name ; even though 
"names unknown to song" were prefixed to every 
other : O, Tempora ! O, Mores ! But to come near 
7io?ne, surely some of the worthy correspondents of the 
Methodist Magazine, who doubtless in pure kindness 
send the editor hymns for the edification of two him- 



NOTES. 



103 



dred thousand people, must have forgotten that Wes- 
ley's hymns are still familiar among us, or they would 
not gipsify such noble compositions, or more frequent- 
ly send us a background to his landscape. "For what 
can that man do that cometh after the king?" Alas, 
that any one should think of scenting a rose, of pain- 
ting crystal, or of increasing the beauty of a gem by 
covering it with smoke ; for such are all attempts to 
improve Wesley's hymns, without Wesley's genius. 
The writer of this note files his protest in the high 
chancery of poetry, against all smuggling, transposing, 
gypsifying, patching, refining, or pirating the hymns of 
the said 0. Wesley : which he is persuaded that neither 
himself, nor his brethren, whether clergy or laity, poets, 
poetesses or poetasters, can possibly improve ; and he 
moreover protests against any poet, in any Wesleyan 
pulpit, supplanting the aforesaid hymns by any of his 
own composition : and herein he requires that none 
transgress at their peril. Given under my hand and 
seal, &c. 

My Asbury, has thy pure spirit flown, 
To sinless Eden's ever-blooming zone. 

Page 21. 

An Account of the Rev. F. Asbury. 

Bishop Asbury was one of those very few men whom 
nature forms in no ordinary mould, although possessed 
ofJtole literature his mind was stamped with a cer- 
tain greatness and originality which lifted him far above 
the merely learned man, and fitted him to be great with- 
out science, and venerable without titles. His know- 
ledge of men was profound and penetrating ; hence he 
looked into character as one looks into a clear stream 
in order to discover the bottom : yet he did not use 
this penetration to compass any unworthy purposes ; 
the policy of knowing men in order to make the most 
of them, was a littleness to which he never stooped. 
He had only one end in view, and that was worthy the 
dignity of an angel ; from this nothing ever warped him 
aside. He seemed conscious that God had designed 
him for a great work, and nothing was wanting on his 
part to fulfil the intention of Providence. The niche 



104 



NOTES. 



was cut in the great temple of usefulness, and he 
stretched himself to fill it up in all its dimensions. To 
him, the widest career of labor and duty .presented no 
obstacle. Like a moral Caesar he thought nothing done 
while anything remained to do. His penetrating eye 
measured the ground, over which he intended to sow 
the seeds of eternal life ; while his courageous and ac- 
tive mind, cheerfully embraced ail the difficulties en- 
grafted upon his labors. He worshipped no god of 
the name of Terminus; but stretched "his line of things" 
far beyond the bounds of ordinary minds : an i&nual 
journey of six thousand miles^. through a wilderness 
country (the best roads of which require patience and 
caution, and the worst set description at defiance^ would 
have sunk a feebler mind into despondency, but neither 
roads, weather nor aocommodatioas, retarded his pro- 
gress, nor once moved him from the line of duty. He 
pursued the most difficult and laborious course, as most 
men do their pleasures ; and although for many years 
he was enfeebled by sickness, and worn with age and 
infirmity ; two hundred thousand persons^saw with as- 
tonishment the hoary veteran still " still standing in his 
lot," or " pressing his vast line" of duty with undimin- 
ished zeal. The Methodist connection in United Amer- 
ica gloried in having such a man to ]3reside at their 
head : and few of the preachers ever spoke of his in- 
tegrity, diligence, and zeal, without imputing to them- 
selves some worth*, in having him as their Bishop. To 
all that bore the appearance of polished and pleasing 
life he was dead ; and both from habit and divine grace 
had acquired such a true greatness of mind, that he 
seemed to estimate nothing as excellent but what tended 
to the glory of God. Flattery, of which many great 
minds are highly susceptible, found him fortified behind 
a double guard of humility : and opposition but served 
to awaken those energies of mind, which rise with dif- 
ficulties and surmount the greatest. He knew nothing 
about pleasing the flesh at the expense of duty ; flesh 
and blood were enemies with whom he never took coun- 
sel ; he took a high standing upon the rugged alps of 
labor, and to all that lagged behind, he said," come up 
hither." He was a rigid enemy to ease ; hence, the 
pleasures of study and the charms of recreation, he 



NOTES. 



105 



alike sacrificed to the - more sublime work of saving 
souls. His faith was a " constant evidence of things not 
seen/' for he lived as a man totally blind to all worldly 
attractions. It is true that his self-denial savored of 
austerity, and yet he could sympathize with another's 
weakness. Some great and good men have had their 
sportive moments, and without committing " half a sin," 
have both smiled themselves, and been amused with 
others. But, although I have been in his company up- 
on a variety of occasions, I never saw him indulge in 
even innocent pleasantry : his was the solemnity of an 
Apostle ; it was so interwoven with his conduct, that 
he could not put off the gravity o." the Bishop, either 
in the parlor or dining-room. What (on account of 
levity) was once said of a popular preacher, that he 
should either never go in, or never come out of a pul- 
pit, could never be applied to him. Wisdom is not 
more distant from folly, than his conduct was from any 
thing akin to trifling. He had stated hours of retire- 
ment and prayer; upon which he let neither business 
nor company break in. Prayer was the seasoning of all 
his avocations ; he never suffered the cloth to be remo- 
ved from the table until he had kneeled down to ad- 
dress the Almighty ; it was the preface to all business , 
and often the link that connected opposite duties, and 
the conclusion of whatever he took in hand. Divine 
wisdom seemed to direct all his undertakings, for he 
sought its counsels upon all occasions; no part of his 
conduct was the result of accident ; the plan by which 
110 --t^rl a ll his affairs, was as regular as the move- 
ments of a time-piece ; n Ci _ i_ Wd no idle mom ents, no 
fragments of time broken and scattered up anailu^na 
cause to say with Titus, "my friends, I have lost a day." 
Pleading with God in secret, settling the various affairs 
of the body over which he presided, or speaking " to men 
for their edification," in the pulpit, occupied all his time. 
As a preacher, although not an orator, he was digninedj 
eloquent^and impressive - his sermons were the result 
of good sense and sound wisdom, delivered with great 
authority and gravity, and often attended with divine 
unction, which made them as refreshing as the dew of 
heaven. One of the last subjects I heard him preach 
upon, was union and brotherly love ; it was the great- 



106 



NOTES. 



est I ever heard upon that subject. His talents as a 
preacher were respectable, but his chief excellence lay 
in governing; for this, perhaps no man was better 
qualified ; he presided with dignity, moderation and 
firmness, over a large body of men : all of whom are 
as tenacious of liberty and equal rights as most men in 
the world ; and yet each submitted to an authority that 
grew out of his labors ; an authority founded upon 
reason, maintained with inflexible integrity, and exer- 
cised only for the good of the whole. A man of less en- 
ergy would have given up the reins ; and one of less 
wisdom, prudence and moderation, would have com- 
mitted the same error as Phaeton ; and the whole 
system would have been confused and distracted ; but 
Mr. Asbury managed the vast economy with singular 
ability ; his eye was keen, his hand was steady, and 
his " moderation was known to all men." In 1780 he first 
took charge of the societies as general superintendant ; 
the whole country was then in a state of ferment ; the 
war of the revolution had raged for four years, party 
spirit ran high, the waves of political fury threatened 
to swallow up the infant cause ; all the preachers, save 
himself, had fled from the storm ; he alone remained 
as the last pilot to brave the fury of the angry tempest, 
and to bring, if possible, the little bark into a quiet ha- 
ven. When he first took the helm, there were 42 
American preachers, and 8,504 persons in the society ; 
when he resigned his charge to the great head of the 
church, March 16th, 1816, there were 700 travelling 
preachers, and 218,000 members. Thus h^ fj- J* - * 
ful servant of God feW^ ^ a not fainted. In all 
th™ s <* «• approving himself to God," in much patience, 
in affliction, in necessities, in distresses, in tumults, in 
labors, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowl- 
edge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy 
Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the 
power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the 
right hand and on the left. He annually visited nine 
Conferences, the two extremities of which, the Tenn- 
esee Conference to the west, and the state of Maine to 
the east, were 1,400 miles apart. The following is the 
order in which this laborious veteran performed his 



NOTES. 



107 



wide and extended tour of duty and usefulness, during 
the time of my residence in the U. S. He visited the 

Ohio Conference September 1, 1813. 

Tennessee Ditto October 1, 1813. 

South Carolina Ditto January 12, 1814. 

Virginia Ditto February 20, 1814. 

Baltimore Ditto March 16, 1814. 

Philadelphia Ditto April 6, 1814. 

New York Ditto May 5, 1814. 

New England Ditto June 2, 1814. 

GrENNESSEE DlTTO July 14, 1814. 

Making the whole route, about 6,000 miles, in little 
better than ten months ; and such was the vigor of his 
mind, that although (through a rheumatic disorder) he 
was frequently obliged to walk upon crutches, and 
sometimes he had to be helped in and out of the pulpit, 
and frequently to be lifted into his little spring wagon, 
(for in this vehicle, without pomp or parade, did this 
venerable man perform his vast journeys, attended 
only by one or two of the juinor preachers on horse- 
back.) Yet on no consideration would he remit airy 
part of his labors : every fragment of time was gathered 
up, that nothing might be lost; he stamped as much 
value upon every moment, as though it had been the 
most precious revenue. Never absent at the call of 
duty, his great maxim was, " we ought not to please 
ourselves, but aim only at fulfilling the great work con- 
fided to our zeal." His whole life of duty and labor, 
was a lively and practical comment upon the text. 
Interest and popularity had no influence whatever up- 
on his views ; he would not be turned, and he could 
not be drawn aside ; to warp him from the path of duty, 
or corrupt his integrity, would have been a task more 
difficult than Pyrrhus' attempt corrupt Fabricius. His 
prudence was equal to his integrity ; he never com- 
mitted himself ; hence, he had few things to undo ; all 
his affairs were conducted with a " single eye," and 
these qualifications (more than his learning or popular 
abilities) recommended him at an early period to the 
confidence of his brethren, who unanimously chose 
him their general superintendant, several years before 
Mr. Wesley more fully appointed him to that office. 



108 



NOTES. 



And how well lie filled it, thousands through every part 
of United America can testify. Many deviated from the 
work, but his step was firm ; though opposed, he was 
unmoved ; neither friends or foes could shake his res- 
olution. Some men support their measures with vio- 
lence and heat, and think the cause sanctifies the con- 
duct ; as though opposition could be consumed by the 
" spirit of their mouth," but in him, self-command, 
equanimity and moderation shone with divine lustre ; 
he neither lived under the dog star, nor the pole ; the 
equal balances were the sign that influenced his con- 
duct as a public man. I have seen him sit in Confer- 
ences with the greatest calmness, when many things 
were canvassed which must have greatly pained and 
wounded his mind ; but in his " patience he possessed 
his soul ! The servant of the Lord should not strive." 
If he could not carry a point, he did not force it against 
wind and tide, but calmly sat down till the blast was 
gone by, and with a placid dignity made a virtue of 
necessity, or with discriminating wisdom, brought the 
measure forward in a less exceptionable shape, and at 
a more convenient time. _ In his appearance he was 
a picture of plainness and simplicity, bordering upon 
the costume of the Friends ; the reader may figure to 
himself an old man, spare and tall, but remarkably 
clean, with a plain frock coat, drab, or mixture, waist- 
coat and small cloth^, of the same kind, a neat stock, a 
large broad-brimmedhat with an uncommonly low crown, 
while his white locks, venerable with age, added a sim- 
plicity to his appearance, that is not easy to describe ; 
his countenance had a cast of severity, but this was 
probably owing to his habitual gravity and seriousness ; 
his look was remarkably penetrating ; in a word, I 
never recollect to have seen a man of more grave, ven- 
erable and dignified appearance. I should not omit 
his temperance, having frequently dined with him. I 
have been astonished how a man who ate so sparingly 
could perform such vast labors ; an egg, a little salad^ 
or bread, and a small slice of meat, was his usual din- 
ner ; sometimer he dined only upon tea or coffee : 
wine, spirits or cordials he seldom tasted ; at dinner, 
his meals were seasoned with some weighty and prof- 
itable discourse ; chiefly upon vital and prac tical godli- 



NOTES. 



109 



ness ; he rose early from table, and always concluded 
with prayer. As he wished to shun compliances, he 
generally avoided the houses of the rich, and took up 
his lodgings with persons of middle station in life, that 
he might not be interrupted in the order and regulari- 
ty he observed. His whole soul was devoted to the 
work of a diligent and laborious overseer of the flock 
of Christ : to all beside, he was nobly indifferent ; not 
that he was without taste for objects beautiful and mag- 
nificent in nature, but they were considered of minor 
moment to his grand and leading pursuit ; the sublim- 
ity of creation, the loftiness of those deep and embow- 
ering shades, through which he rode so many thousands 
of miles; the vastness of lakes and rivers, cataracts 
and mountains, the beauty of that foliage, which in all 
its endless variety of tint, continually meet the eye ; the 
many colored flowers, the feathered and four-footed 
inhabitants of those vast forests, might have engaged 
the attention of a man less bent on fulfilling the work 
of an apostle, but as the great Paul was more intent 
upon saving the inhabitants of Athens, Antioch, and 
Rome, than in describing the beauty of their palaces, 
the grandeur of their temples, and the loftiness of their 
colonnades and triumphal arches, so this man of God 
devoted all his ability, strength and talents to make 
the " wilderness blossom and bud as the rose," and to 
save the inhabitants of a forest world. For this he was 
one month upon the borders of the Mississippi, and an- 
other upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. For this 
he plunged into the forests of Kentucky, or ascended 
the Alleghany mountains ; this object drew him along 
the shores of the Atlantic, or the lakes Erie, Michigan 
and Ontario : for this he braved the swamps of Carolina, 
and the fevers of New York, Baltimore and Philadel- 
phia. Thus like an angel of benevolence, he conveyed 
the tidings of peace to hundreds of sylvan towns and 
villages, deep in the interior of the wilderness. When 
will United Amercia have such another Apostle 1 
When will she see another Asbury ? Vast Columbia 
will long mourn the loss of this venerable Bishop. 

The following is a letter I received from the Rev. 
William Black, one of our oldest and most respected 
Missionaries in North America, respecting the inter- 

10 



110 



NOTES. 



ment of this venerable man, who died in the spring of 
1816, at Spotsylvania, in Virginia, worn down with la- 
bors, but full of faith, resignation and peace, in the 
seventieth year of his age. 

Halifax, June 27th, 1816. 

Very dear Brother, 

You have doubtless learnt before this, the 
mission on which Mr. Bennett and myself went to 
Baltimore : viz. to accomplish an amicable arrange- 
ment between the British and American Conferences, 
of certain difficulties respecting the societies in the Can- 
adas ; and if possible, to have the societies under the 
direction of the American Conference placed under that 
of the British. We laid our own views, and those of 
the Methodist Missionary Committee, of that business 
before the delegates of the annual Conference, in gen- 
eral Conference assembled; but without obtaining our 
object. The majority of the preachers were in favor 
of retaining the superintendence of the societies now 
under their care, the reasons of which you will proba- 
bly see, when you attend the next British Conference, 
together with our report thereon. Before our arrival 
at Baltimore, we learned that our heavenly father had 
been pleased to remove that great and good man, Mr. 
Asbury, the particulars of whose death, I doubt not, 
are already in your possession. Perhaps you may have 
yet to learn, that, at the request of many of his friends 
in Baltimore, and particularly of the General Confer- 
ence, his remains were removed to that city, and inter- 
red in a new tomb under Eutaw Chapel. The Episco- 
palian Bishop, and several other ministers, of different 
communions, attended the funeral, as did the Governor 
of the State. Bishop M'Kendree and Mr. Black walked 
before the corpse, and performed the funeral rites : 
Bishop M'K read the funeral service, and Mr. B. con- 
cluded with prayer. It is supposed that about 20,000, 
or as some suppose, 25,000 persons were present in the 
procession, and out of it, as spectators on the solemn 
occasion. Previous to the interment, Bishop M'Ken- 
dree delivered a short discourse, in a very faint and 
feeble voice, to as many as could crowd into the chapel, 
embracing some of the leading traits of Bishop Asbury's 



NGTES. 



Ill 



history and character. It was about twelve minutes 
long : but I fear was not heard distinctly by one third 
of the people. On the following sabbath a funeral ser- 
mon was delivered in each of the eight or nine chapels 
occupied by the Methodists. It was my lot to preach 
in the Light street chapel, on that solemn occasion. 
The congregation was very large, and almost silent as 
death. The chapel contains about 3,000, but hundreds 
were obliged to go away for want of room. The Bish- 
op and the Conference requested a copy of the sermon 
for publication ; but I could not consent to furnish one. 
I am persuaded it owed much of its worth to the coin- 
cidences and tender recollections of that awful and af- 
fecting time. May the great head of the church, more 
than supply the vacated place of that truly venerable 
and pious man, Bishop Asbury. Messrs. George, and 
R. R. Roberts have been ordained as assistants to 
Bishop M'Kendree. 

Your affectionate brother, 

And fellow laborer, 

WM. BLACK. 

The following simple epitaph, hastily sketched, may 
furnish a hint to an abler pen to do ample justice to 
the subject. 

Sacred to the Memory of 
THE REV. FRANCIS ASBURY, 
The Venerable Apostle to the 
Methodist Societies in United America, 
In these Wild Woods 
He labored for the space of forty-six years, 
Travelled annually 6000 miles; and presided 
at nine different Conferences. 
He was a minister of the most venerable character, 
And a Bishop of the primitive stamp : 
He lived to see the work of God- spread, 
And his work extend, 
From the shores of the Atlantic to Lake Ontario, and 
From the Bay of Fundy to the waters of Mississippi. 
Lender his general Superintendency, 
The Preachers increased from 42 to 700, and 
The Societies from 8504 to 218,307. 



112 



NOTES. 



He died full of years, peace and confidence, in the 
Spring of 1816, 
At Spotsylvania, in Virginia. 
Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the 
Joy of thy Lord. 

[A biography of Bishop Asbury is still a desideratum 
in Methodist literature. "Were such a work in existence 
as we hoped would be the case ere this time, the above 
sketch might have been' omitted. But no such work hav- 
ing yet been published we permit it to stand as the testi- 
mony of a cotemporary to his great worth, eminent 
qualifications, and extensive gospel labors. — Editor.] 

O ever honored saints accept the lines, 
A timid poet, offers at your shrines. 

Page 29. 

Venerable shades ! If in the paradise where you 
dwell, any human events can reach your knowledge, 
(and why not you also, if angels rejoice over a penitent,) 
accept this poor tribute of sincere esteem. In giving 
you a place in these lines, the writer has nothing in 
view from men, nor yet even from you who are now 
something more. Much as he wishes to form himself 
by your example while upon earth, he dares not ask 
your prayers, now you are in felicity. In praising you 
he is neither feeding the vanity, or exciting the envy 
of any individual. While you sojourned upon earth, 
few encomiums were either made upon your persons, 
or paid to your excellence. Praise you did not expect, 
but your path was plentifully strewn with the " briars of 
reproof," ill-nature, and opposition. You were the 
first settlers in our "land of Canaan" the country was 
all waste, " howling wilderness" when you came to in- 
habit it : you cut down the trees, drained the marshes, 
opened the roads, bridged the rivers, destroyed the 
w T ild beasts, and cleared the ground. To accomplish all 
this, required courage, fortitude, constancy and patience 
like yours. The fabulous labors of Hercules were far less 
designed for the good of mankind than your real ones. 
Your cultivatino; hands turned the moral desert into a 
fruitful field : hence, we who enter upon your labors, 
find a well cultivated country, abounding with all the 



NOTES. 



113 



blessings of life. Few have done more good than you, 
with less human encouragement; but ease, popularity, 
and plenty, were not the objects of your pursuit. You 
felt pity for a world, which, in a thousand different 
ways, made you feel its resentment, and repaid your 
labors, prayers, tears, preaching, watching, fasting, and 
zeal ; with mobs, stones, tumults, imprisonment, re- 
proach and contempt ; but the conflict is past, and you 
have gained the crown. Holy shades did you ever im- 
agine that the monument of your usefulness would have 
four sides, on the squares of which are written — Europe, 
asia, Africa, America. Your sons have planted the cross 
in Europe, from Scotland to the rock of Gibraltar. In 
America, from Cape Canso to Canada, from the pro- 
vince of Maine, a northern extremity of the United 
States, to the Altamahaw river, in the southern extrem- 
ities of Georgia ; and from the seaboard in the eastern 
Atlantic States, to Erie, Detroit, Michigan, Wabash, 
and Missouri, in the west ; and south-west to the Mis- 
sissippi, Natchez, Louisiana, New Orleans, and the 
Tombeckbee settlements. In Africa they have stretch- 
ed their line from Sierra Leone to the Cape of Good 
Hope, and as far as the Bushmen and Caffre Land, 
In Asia they have planted the Gospel in the island of 
Ceylon, and upon the great continent of India. On 
islands they have sounded forth salvation from Prince 
Edward's to Newfoundland; from the Bermudas to 
the Bahamas ; and from the windward to the remotest 
of the leeward islands, and from thence to New South 
Wales. The dark veil of futurity prevented you from 
seeing, that in 1820, 1400 travelling preachers, 6000 
local, and nearly half a million of members, would 
spring from the seed you planted amid sighs and oppo- 
sition, and watered with your tears. Could you have 
supposed that Doctors, Critics, Commentators, Orators, 
Missionaries, Masters of Arts, and even Poets, would 
be among your sons. Some of your children are be- 
come princes among the people, and are not ashamed 
to speak before Princes. Our lofty chapels, some in 
the form of amphitheatres, others with colonnades and 
organs, and double galleries are very different from the 
small apartments, and often miserable little hovels, in 
which ye published the glad tidings of salvation. Ye 

10* 



1X4 



NOTES, 



who had no name but what was often an ensign of con- 
tempt, have among your successors, those who have 
done it honor by wearing it in the senate of the nation. 
In your time, truth crept from place to place by stealth, 
afraid to show its lovely head ; now it comes boldly 
forward, in Bible Societies, Mission Societies, Tract 
Societies, Temperance Societies, &c. &c. &c. You 
found it difficult to raise a few shillings, to pay, your 
unavoidable expenses ; and had, sometimes, to sell your 
horses, to save your credit ; but your spiritual children 
raise more than 20,000Z. annually, to support Foreign 
Missions. Ye were "plain men" and used "great 
plainness of speech," some of your sons " make it so 
fine and curled," and can talk so much " Latin, Greek 
and Hebrew," as, were you upon earth, would make 
you wonder exceedingly. You often carried your li- 
braries in your pockets, and your wardrobes upon your 
backs ; but some of your successors have from 500 to 
1000 volumes apiece, and still grasp after more. This 
great temple of Methodism has all arisen from the little 
stone ye cut out of the mountain without hands ; our 
increasing Missions, and widely extended work, are the 
fruits of your labors. May we highly esteem you, " for 
your work's sake ; " we have no monuments of brass 
on which to inscribe your memories, (for after all we 
are still poor) but your names are written upon our 
hearts, and if we cannot have you as preaching angels, 
in our public assemblies, may we at least have you as 
guardian angels over our lives, labors and economy. 
Like you may we preach, suffer, and live, and like you 
in the last agonies of death, feel and manifest " the 
power of an endless life." 

A quiet haven, from the storm secured. 

Where mine and many a shattered bark has moored. 

Page 32. 

The writer of these lines was literally twice ship- 
wrecked ; first on board the Amethyst, frigate, off the 
Island of Alderney, (she was totally lost) and secondly 
in the Mary, cutter, on the Bolt tail Rock, near Plym- 
outh. He therefore takes this opportunity of record- 
ing the goodness of an over- ruhn^ Pro^ idence, whose 
child (in many perils both by sea and land) he has ev- 



NOTES. 



115 



er been. May a life so often and so wonderfully pre- 
served, be devoted to truth, virtue and righteousness, 
till God shall require it, who has kept him in the hol- 
low of his hand. Amen. So be it. 



These woods solicit, these vast lakes implore, 
Proclaim the cross along- Ontario's shore. 

Tage 46. 

Upper and Lower Canada is a grand field for Mis- 
sionary labors. The settlements are new and but thinly 
scattered over an immense country ; hence the paucity 
of settled ministers, and hence, also, the necessity of 
that gospel which Missionary Itinerancy is so well able 
to supply. Plunged into the depths of that 4 'boundless 
contiguity of shade," many of the settlers seldom hear a 
sermon ; to them the word of God is precious indeed. 
In this vast country of indefinite extent, the Missionary 
has a large sphere of action, and the colonists a press- 
ing claim upon his labors. The Indians also, in those 
regions of forest shade, may plaintively say " no man 
careth for my soul." These children of the wilderness 
are peculiarly susceptible of the sublime impressions 
of religion ; had we no other proof of this, the labors 
of a Brainerd speak volumes. Loskiel's history is like- 
wise a monument of proofs. The simplicity, hardihood 
and sincerity, of the Indian character, bring him into 
a closer contact with the genius of the Gospel, 
than the soft and enervated children of the east, who 
are both debased by tyranny, depraved by idolatry, 
and effeminated by a sickly and burning climate. Since 
I left America, I have often regretted that we have no 
Missionary > peculiarly and solely devoted to the instruc- 
tion of the Indians ; # though I fear the slow process 
of Indian conversion, would hardly harmonize with the 
ardent genius of Methodism ; we love to do things by 
a coup de main, but following a few scattered Indians 
through the wilds of a forest, requires the patience of 
a Moravian, and the perseverance of a Brainerd. 

* The reader will, no doupt, be rejoiced to know, that since the above note 
was written, several Indian Missionary establishments have been made, 
by different denominations, and particularly by the Methodist, whose suc- 
cess has far exceeded the expectations of even the most sanguine, in bring- 
ing the savages of ihe wilderness to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. 



116 



NOTES. 



Could they be persuaded however, to change their 
mode of life, and substitute cultivating the earth for 
hunting, the objects of a Mission would be more effec- 
tually accomplished : In some cases this has been done, 
during my residence in the United States, I had an 
opportunity of seeing such a settlement. On the banks 
of the beautiful lake Oneida, and near the. American 
village Clinton, is Br other st own, here I saw many In- 
dians cultivating the land , here too, I saw the chapel 
built by the celebrated Indian preacher Occum, it stands 
near the great western road to the lakes. Skenandon, 
their famous sachem or chief was then alive ; death 
however has since called away this venerable christian 
Indian. The following interesting account of his death, 
is taken from a periodical publication ; the author will 
be pardoned for subjoining a poetic tribute to his mem- 
ory, which he wrote in consequence of reading that 
obituary. 

Death of Skenandon, an Oneida Chief. 

The following account has been extracted from an 
American paper. 

" Died at his residence near Oneida Castle, on Mon- 
day the 11th of March, Skenandon, the celebrated 
Oneida Chief, aged 110 years ; well known in the wars 
which occurred while we were British Colonies, and in 
the contest which issued in our independence, as the 
undeviating friend of the people of the United States. 
He was very savage, and addicted to drunkenness in 
his youth ;* but, by his own reflections, and the benev- 
olent instructions of the late Rev. Mr. Kirkland, mis- 
sionary to his tribe, he lived a reformed man for more 
than sixty years, and died in christian hope. 

From attachment to Mr. Kirkland, he had always 
expressed a strong desire to be buried near his minis- 
ter and his father, that he might, (to use his own ex- 
pression,) " go up with him at the great resurrection." 
At the approach of death, after listening to the prayers 

* In the year 1755, Skenandon was present at a treaty made in Albany. 
At night he was excessively drunk, and in the morning found himself in the 
street stripped of all his ornaments, and of every article of clothing. His 
pride revolted at his self-degradation, and he resolved that he would never 
again deliver himself over to the power of " strong water." 



NOTES. 



117 



which were read at his bedside by his great-grand- 
daughter, he again repeated this request. Accordingly, 
the family of Mr. Kirkland, having received information 
by a runner that Skenandon was dead, in compliance 
with a previous promise, sent assistance to the Indians, 
that the corpse might be conveyed to the village of 
Clinton for burial. Divine service was attended at the 
Meeting-house in Clinton. An address was made to 
the Indians by the Rev. Dr. Backus, President of Ham- 
ilton College, which was interpreted by Judge Dean, 
of Westmoreland. Prayer was then offered and ap- 
propriate psalms sung. After service the concourse 
which had assembled from respect to the deceased 
Chief, and from the singularity of the occasion, moved 
to the grave in the following order : — 

Students of Hamilton College, 

CORPSE. 

Indians. 
Mrs. Kirkland and family, 
Judge Dean, Rev. Dr. Norton, 

Rev. Mr. Ayer, 
Officers of Hamilton College, 
Citizens. 

After interment, the only surviving son of the de- 
ceased, self-moved, returned thanks, through Judge 
Dean as interpreter, to the people for the respect 
shown to his father on the occasion, and to Mrs. Kirk- 
land and family for their kind and friendly attentions. 

Skenandon's person was tall and brawny, but well- 
made ; his countenance was intelligent, and beamed 
with all the indigenous dignity of an Indian chief. In 
his youth he was a brave and intrepid warrior, and in 
his riper years one of the ablest counsellors among the 
North American tribes. He possessed a strong and 
vigorous mind ; and though terrible as the tornado in 
war, he was bland and mild as the zephyr in peace. 
With the cunning of the fox, the hungry perseverance 
of the wolf, and the agility of the mountain-cat, he 
watched and repelled Canadian invasions. His vigi- 
lance once preserved from massacre the inhabitants of 
the infant settlement of German-flats. His influence 
brought his tribe to our assistance in the war of the 



118 NOTES. 

revolution. How many of the living and the dead 
have been saved from the tomahawk and scalping-knife, 
by his friendly aid, is not known ; but individuals and 
villages have expressed gratitude for his benevolent in- 
terpositions ; and, among the Indian tribes, he was dis^ 
tinguished by the appellation of the " White Man's 
Friend." 

Although he could speak but little English, and in 
his extreme old age was blind, yet his company was 
sought. In conversation he was highly decorous, evin- 
cing that he had profited by seeing civilized and pol- 
ished society, and by mingling with good company in 
his better days. 

To a friend who called on him a short time since, he 
thus expressed himself by an interpreter — 

" I am an a°*ed hemlock — the winds of a hundred 

o 

winters have whistled through my branches — I am dead 
at the top. The generation to which I belonged have 
run away and left me : why 1 live the Great Good 
Spirit only knows. Pray to my Jesus, that I may have 
patience to wait for my appointed time to die." 

Honored Chief ! his prayer was answered! he was 
cheerful and resigned to the last. For several years 
he kept his dress for the grave prepared. Once, and 
again, and ag-ain, he came to Clinton to die, longing 
that his soul might be with Christ, and his body in the 
" narrow house," near his beloved Christian teacher. 

While the ambitious look principally to sculptured 
monuments, and to niches in the temple of earthly fame, 
Skenandon, in the spirit of the only real nobility, stood 
with his loins girded, waiting the coming of his Lord. 

[Here follow some lines by Marsden on the death of 
Skenandon, which, for the sake of room, are omitted.] 

Debased with crime and levelled to the dust, 
He has no bliss to hope, no God to trust. 

Page 47. 

The moral condition of the blacks must be most mel- 
ancholy in those Islands where missions have not been 
established ; and also in those parishes, and upon those 
plantations to which Christian missionaries have no ac- 
cess. The religion of nature is the parent of crime and 



NOTES. 



119 



misery ; natural debasement is the lot of slaves, hence, if 
ever the consolations of piety were required, they are re- 
quired here. Man without religion, in his best estate is a 
solitary and hopeless being : the slave must necessarily be 
most wretched ; to him not even the few consolations 
of social life are granted. If common life without God 
is a burden, the misery of slavery, the worst political 
curse, is here superadded. If stripes, if cruelty, if la- 
bor, if hunger had no alliance with slavery, still it is 
most degrading ; but what shall we say when the slave 
is without instructor, without bible, without sabbath, 
without peace, hope, consolation or G-od ; ah ! the feel- 
ing heart recoils from such a picture of human misery. 
Our government has made provision to build a hundred 
churches ; O that it had also sent a hundred christian 
missionaries to the poor negroes ! this would have been 
noble— godlike. When will the policy of rulers make 
provision* for the wretched ; then only, when man shall 
love his neighbor as himself. 



A close, a searching inquiry proceeds, 
His labors, gifts, his piety and creeds. 

Page 50. 

It has been supposed, that the system of Wesleyan 
Methodism admits any one to preach, who imagiues he 
has preaching gifts ; so far, however, from this being 
the case, that no body of christian ministers exercise a 
more severe ordeal, than that by which the fitness of a 
Wesleyan preacher is tested. Before he is allowed to 
preach as. a local preacher, his gifts and character are 
closely sifted by his brethren of that order. Secondly, 
in order to his admission upon trial as an itinerant, he 
must receive the perfect approbation of a quarterly 
meeting. Thirdly, he is examined and further sifted 
by the district composed of travelling preachers. 
Fourthly, he is brought forward again at the Confer- 
ence, where, fifthly, if admitted upon trial, he has four 
years to serve before he can be taken into full connec- 
tion ; when a close investigation takes place respecting 
his gifts, graces, usefulness and moral character; should 
he be defective in any of these, a serious demur takes 
place respecting his admission ; probably he is either put 



120 



NOTES. 



back upon trial, or dismissed from the work. Now, I 
would ask, in what body is there such a slowly gradu- 
ating process ] Such a fiery ordeal ] Such a steep 
ascent to climb, in order to arrive at the ministry ] It 
is true, Methodism neither imposes nor requires a four 
years study of the mathematics. It sees no immediate 
alliance between that kind of science and the grand 
scheme of salvation; for however important it may 
consider such subjects, in reference to war, geography, 
navigation, or astronomy, it does not view them in re- 
lation to ministerial fitness, as indispensably necessary 
to form the " workman who needeth not to be ashamed 
rightly dividing the word of truth." If, therefore, the 
author has seemed to cast some of these things into 
shade, it was not because he did not consider them as 
important to some professions in life ; nor was it owing 
to the vanity of undervaluing a thing he did not him- 
self understand ; for, having devoted not a little of his 
time to the attainment of mathematical science, he is 
not ignorant of its bearings and uses ; he alludes par- 
ticularly to geometry and trigonometry ; in the study 
of which, he has found much pleasure, but little spirit- 
ual profit. 

Still let each brother pass the straitened door, 
Still wave this fan along the public floor. 

Page 53. 

As long as this annual investigation of character takes 
place, so long will Wesleyan Methodism be kept pure. 
The neglect of this kind of discipline in any body of 
christians will be found to lie at the root of all its cor- 
ruptions ; no denomination of christians will be better, 
or holier, or wiser, than their teachers. A christian 
Ministry should attain to the highest mark upon the 
standard of excellence ; but to many, who is to apply 
that standard % Who is to bring home upon the indi- 
vidual, the shame and scandal of coming short ? Who 
is to make the incision, that should sever an unworthy 
or immoral minister from the church of Christ ! In 
what body is this attended to. A solitary instance may 
now and then occur ; but alas ! the tribunal of disci- 
pline is so seldom erected, and the penalties of minis- 



NOTES. 



121 



terial delinquency are so slight, and so often commuted, 
that, now-a-days, no man trembles at the thought of be- 
ing put out of office. Wesleyan Methodism is, how- 
ever, an exception to these remarks ; her economy is 
full of eyes : and her rigid discipline, like the shears of 
Atropos, cuts off the unworthy minister from the com- 
munion of his brethren. May she never depart from this 
purity of discipline, and then as I have predicted above, 

While truth shall triumph, man his God adore, 
Th' Wesleyan cause shall flourish more and more. 



NOTES TO AMERICAN METHODISM. 



NOTES. 



The reader has not been troubled with references to 
notes in the body of the Poem. But few are deemed 
necessary here. Some, however, may not be inappro- 
priate. The design of the foregoing humble effort is 
thought to be sufficiently evident. The author has no 
party purposes to serve. He seeks the good of Amer- 
ican Methodism as a whole, not the triumph of one 
portion over another portion. Methodism in the Uni- 
ted States is no more one in external organization. Nor 
do the fundamental principles of Methodist economy 
require that there should be but one organization. In- 
deed, previous to the late separation between the nor- 
thern and southern portions of the M. E. Church, le- 
gitimate Methodism was divided into at least three 
distinct ecclesiastical bodies — the parent body in Great 
Britain— the M. E. Church in the United States — and 
the Canada Wesleyan Church. These three bodies 
acknowledged each other as distinct, yet regular and 
legitimate Methodist Church organizations. The Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, was designed, by the 
Conference of 1844, to be placed on the same platform, 
as it regards legitimacy and regularity. No one can 
doubt this who consults the proceedings of the Confer- 
ence in reference to that subject. There are many, 
however, who deny both the constitutionality and pro- 
priety of the course pursued by the General Conference 
of 1844 : and there are others who, admitting the con- 
stitutionality of those proceedings, and, in some degree 
the compact character of the Plan of Separation, never- 
theless, think that the subsequent proceedings of the 
Southern portion have been such as to destroy their title 
to legitimacy and regularitv. The present attitude of 

11* 



126 NOTES. 

these two great sections of Methodism is that of hostility 
towards each other. War has not been formally and 
officially declared, it is true, but hostilities have been 
in progress for some length of time along the border ; 
and possibly before these lines meet the eyes of the 
reader, American Methodism, may stand before the 
world at open and avowed war with itself — the plan of 
separation nullified — all restrictions upon mutual ag- 
gression torn away and both parties left at full liberty 
to do their best for party ends and gains. Such a state 
of things the writer heartily deprecates ; and in view 
of it the few Stanzas on American Methodism have 
been suggested. He cannot flatter himself that their 
influence will be great ; but if they shall help to a kinder 
spirit in a single soul, he is not without his reward. 
He has endeavored to present the folly and sinfulness 
of disunity and contention, by various familiar illustra- 
tions, some of them at least directly authorized by 
Scripture. He argues the importance and necessity of 
Union from the command of the great Head of the 
Church — the honor of our common name — the interests 
of Protestantism and the welfare of the Country. These 
general remarks must suffice. A few on particular 
psasages may be indulged. 



Why cast away your armor, quit your posts. 
And basely from exulting foes take flight? 

Stanza 2. 

During the last four years the Church has been de- 
creasing in numbers. Methodism in the United States 
is not as strong numerically, at the present time, as it 
was four years ago: The armies of the Lord have been 
retreating before their foes. It is true that more re- 
cently the spirit of revival has again blessed the church. 
No one more rejoices in it than does the writer. The 
above lines, with some subsequent ones referring 
to the same point were written before the recent indi- 
cations of prosperity, and under the full weight of 



NOTES, 



127 



the oppression of feeling common on account of the 
desolations of Zion. We would not be understood 
as relying upon numbers and increase as an infallible 
indication of the divine favor. Nor do we attribute 
the entire decrease to the division of the church ; but 
there can be no doubt that the unfavorable influence 
exerted by our unhappy contentions had something to 
do in producing this deplorable result. 

When at thy voice the lute of Wesley woke, 
****** 
As once to Whitefield, long estranged it spoke 

Stanza 9. 

Who that ever read can forget the beautiful poetical 
epistle of Charles Wesley to Whitefield inviting him 
to forget old differences, and prepare to mingle with 
all the blessed in the glorious triumph before the throne. 

Each on his brother's overthrow was bent, 
Deeming him foe to truth, by vile Abaddon sent. 

Stanza 10. 

This language is not intended to teach that Wesley 
and Whitefield were personal enemies, or that they 
denied each other's personal piety. Personally they 
were friends, and held each other in high esteem, though 
for a season their friendly intercourse was suspended 
by reason of their doctrinal differences. But that the 
language above is not too strong when applied to their 
opposition to each other's doctrinal systems, we think 
will be evident. Whitefield was very confident that 
the dogmas of Calvin were the doctrines of the bible, 
and that Wesley's opposition to them originated in a 
device of the devil, consequently, he and his friends 
separated from Wesley. What the Wesleys thought 
of Whitefield's Calvinism, may be learned from the 
following spirited lines of Charles on the subject. 

Oh had he kept the post by Heaven assigned, 
Sent to invite and waken all mankind ! 
Oh had he 'scaped that plague that deadly draught, 
Which rigid Calvin from old Dominic caught ! 
Unless to heathen Zeno we ascribe, 



12S 



NOTES. 



What Mahomet taught his wild elected tribe, 
Shall Whitefield too mis-spend his noble might 
To wash the Ethiop Reprobation white ! 
Shall Whitefield too to prop the doctrine try, 
The hellish, blasphemous, exploded lie : 
The "horrible decree, 5 ' the foulest tale, 
The. deadliest that was ever hatched in hell ! 
And shall I spare the doctrine ? Spare the fiend, 
Th' old Fatalist, the murderer of my friend ? 
No : while the breath of God these limbs sustains. 
Or flows one drop of blood within these veins, 
War, endless war, with Satan's scheme I make, 
Full vengeance on the hellish doctrine take, 
Its sworn eternal ioe for my own Whitefield's sake." 

It may be observed that the Wesley of the IX, X, 
XI, stanzas is not John or Charles distinctively consid- 
ered ; but John and Charles conjointly. They are 
sufficiently one for poetical purposes. 



Their separation overruled for good, 

Has scattered far and wide the Gospel seed. 

Stanza 11. 

There can be little doubt but the differences and 
separation of Wesley and Whitefield, in the hands of 
Providence, were overruled for good to the spiritual 
interests of Protestant Christendom. Wesley as an 
Arminian had readier access to those of similar creed ; 
and Whitefield as a Calvinist, found the Calvinistic 
pulpits open to his ministry. By these means the leav- 
en of evangelical piety, justifying faith and the fervors 
of Methodism, were infused into both the great doctri- 
nal branches of Protestantism. It is not too much to 
say that this leaven is working to this day, in a greater 
or less degree, in all the evangelical churches of Great 
Britain and America. As the separation of Barnabas 
and Paul in the olden time resulted in two distinct mis- 
sions instead of one, as at first projected, and, therefore, 
probably in the wider diffusion of the Gospel seed, so 
that of Wesley and Whitefield, the modern Apostles of 
justifying faith and fervent piety, has tended to the furth- 
erance of the Gospel. What was at the time regarded 
as a great calamity to the cause of God is now a mat- 
ter of congratulation. It is thus that God makes the 



NOTES. 



129 



wrath of man to praise him ; and the remainder (ex- 
cess) he will restrain ; overruling what maybe overruled 
for good, and restraining the remainder. There is 
hope in this thought for American Methodism. Per- 
haps, after all, the great Head of the church will bring 
about some greater result by the separation than could 
have been accomplished without it. We have great 
faith in Providence ; and hope for Methodism as the 
child of Providence. 

The Church's outward dress, its organism, 
May not be parted for a thing of naught. 

Stanza 30. 

" A causeless separation from a body of living chris- 
tians" — commonly denominated Schism — " however 
innocent it may be accounted" says Mr. Wesley, "is 
both evil in itself and productive of evil consequences." 
Without intending to say that the separation of the 
South was a causeless one, or that it was unnecessary ,for 
we determine nothing on that point, the language of 
Mr. Wesley concerning the evil results of a " causeless," 
( needless ) separation is singularly descriptive of what 
has occured in the actual workings of that event; wheth- 
er by the fault of those separating, or those adhering, 
or both, the writer determines not. 

" To separate ourselves from a body of living Chris- 
tians, with whom we were before united, is a grievous 
breach of the law of love. It is the nature of love to 
unite us together ; and the greater the love, the stricter 
the union. And while this continues in its strength, 
nothing can divide those whom love has united. It is 
only when our love grows cold, that we can think of 
separating from our brethren. And this is certainly the 
case with any who willingly separate from their Chris- 
tian brethren. The pretences for separation may be 
innumerable, but want of love is always the real cause, 
otherwise, they would still hold the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace. It is therefore contrary to all 
those commands of God, wherein brotherly love is en- 
joined : to that of St. Paul; " Let brotherly love con- 
tinue;" — to that of St. John; " My beloved children, 



130 



NOTES. 



love one another ;" — and especially to that of our bless- 
ed master ; " This is my commandment, that ye love 
one another, as I have Joved you." Yea, " by this/ ? 
saith he, " shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye love one another." 

" And as such a separation is evil in itself, being a 
breach of brotherly love, so it brings forth evil fruit ; it 
is naturally productive of the most mischievous conse- 
quences. It opens a door to all unkind tempers, both 
in ourselves and others. It leads directly to a whole 
train of evil surmisings, to severe and uncharitable 
judging of each other. It gives occasion to offence, to 
anger and resentment, perhaps in ourselves as well as 
in our brethren ; which, if not presently stopped, may 
issue in bitterness, malice, and settled hatred ; creating 
a present hell wherever they are found, as a prelude 
to hell eternal. 

" But the ill consequences of even this species of 
schism do not terminate in the heart. Evil tempers 
cannot long remain within, before they are productive 
of outward fruit. Out of the abundance of the heart 
the mouth speaketh. As he whose heart is full of love, 
openeth his mouth with wisdom, and in his lips there 
is the law of kindness ; so he whose heart is full of 
prejudice, anger, suspicion, or any unkind temper, will 
surely open his mouth in a manner corresponding with 
the disposition of his mind. And hence will arise, if 
not lying and slandering-, (which yet will hardly be 
avoided,) bitter words, tale bearing, backbiting, and 
evil speaking of every kind. 

" From evil words, from tale bearing, backbiting, and 
evil speaking, how many evil works will naturally flow ! 
Anger, jealousy, envy, wrong tempers of every kind, 
do not vent themselves merely in words, but push men 
continually to all kinds of ungodly and unrighteous ac - 
tions. A plentiful harvest of all the works of darkness, 
may be expected to spring from this source ; whereby, 
in the end, thousands of souls, and not a few of those 
who once walked in the light of God's countenance, 
may be turned from the way of peace, and finally 
drowned in everlasting perdition. 

" Well might our blessed Lord say, " Wo unto the 
world because of offences !" Yet it must needs be, that 



NOTES, 



131 



offences will come :" yea, abundance of them will, of 
necessity, arise, when a breach of this sort is made in 
any religious community : while they that leave it en- 
deavor to justify themselves, by censuring those they 
separate from ; and these, on the other hand, retort the 
charge, and strive to lay the blame on them. But how 
mightily does all this altercation grieve the Holy Spirit 
of God ! How does it hinder his mild and gentle oper- 
ations in the souls both of one and the other 1 Heresies 
and schisms, (in the scriptural sense of those words,) 
will, sooner or later, be the consequence : parties will 
be formed, on one side and the other side, whereby 
the love of many will wax cold. The hunger and 
thirst after righteousness, after either the favor or the 
full image of God, together with the longing desires, 
wherewith so many were filled, of promoting the work 
of God in the souls of their brethren, will grow languid ; 
and as offences increase, will gradually die away. And 
as the " fruit of the Spirit" withers away, " the works 
of the flesh" will again prevail ; to the utter destruc- 
tion, first of the power, and then of the very form, of 
religion. These consequences are not imaginary ; are 
not built on mere conjectures, but on plain matter of 
fact. This has been the case again and again within 
these last thirty or forty years : these have been the 
fruits which we have seen over and over, to be conse- 
quent on such a separation. 

" And what a grievous stumbling block must these 
things be to those who are without ; to those who are 
strangers to religion ; who have neither the form nor 
the power of godliness ! How will they triumph over 
these once eminent Christians ! How boldly ask, — 
*- What are they better than us ?" How will they 
harden their hearts more and more against the truth, 
and bless themselves in their wickedness From which, 
possibly the example of the Christians might have re- 
claimed them, had they continued unblamable in their 
behaviour. Such is the complicated mischief which 
persons separating themselves from a Christian church 
or society do, not only to themselves, but to that whole 
society, and to the whole world in general. 

" But perhaps such persons will say, " We did not 
do this willingly ; we were constrained to separate 



132 



NOTES. 



from that society, because we could not continue there- 
in with a clear conscience ; we could not continue 
without sin. I was not allowed to continue therein, 
without breaking a commandment of God." If this 
was the case, you could not be blamed for separating 
from that society. Suppose, for instance, you were a 
member of the church of Rome ; and you could not 
remain therein, without committing idolatry ; without 
worshipping of idols, whether images, or saints and 
angels ; then it would be your bounden duty .to leave 
that community ; totally to separate from it. Suppose 
you could not remain in the church of England, with- 
out doing something which the word of God forbids 
or omitting something which the word of God posi- 
tively commands ; if this were the case, (but blessed 
be God, it is not,) you ought to separate from the 
church of England. I will make the case my own : 
I am now, and have been from my youth, a member 
and minister of the church of England. And I have 
no desire nor design to separate from it, till my soul 
separates from my body. Yet if I was not permitted 
to remain therein, without omitting what God requires 
me to do, it would then become meet, and right, and 
my bounden duty, to separate from it without delay. 
To be more particular : I know God has committed to 
me a dispensation of the Gospel ; yea, and my own 
salvation depends upon preaching it : " wo is me if I 
preach not the gospel." If then I could not remain 
in the church without omitting this ; without desisting 
from preaching the gospel, I should be under a neces- 
sity of separating from it, or losing my own soul. In 
like manner, if I could not continue united to any 
smaller society, church, or body of Christians, without 
committing sin ; without lying and hypocrisy ; without 
preaching to others, doctrines which I did not myself 
believe ; I should be under an absolute necessity of 
separating from that society. And in all these cases 
the sin of separation, with all the evils consequent up- 
on it, would not lie upon me, but upon those who con- 
strained me to make that separation, by requiring of 
me such terms of communion, as I could not in con- 
science comply with. But setting aside this case, 
suppose the church or society to which I am now 



NOTES. 



133 



united, does not require me to do any thing which the 
Scripture forbids, or to omit any thing which the 
Scripture enjoins, it is then my indispensable duty to 
continue therein. And if I separate from it, without 
any such necessity, I am justly chargeable (whether I 
foresaw them or not) with all the evils consequent 
upon that separation. 

" I have spoke the more explicitly upon this head, 
because it is so little understood; because so many of 
those who profess much religion, nay, and really enjoy 
a measure of it, have not the least conception of this 
matter, neither imagine such a separation to be any sin 
at all. They leave a Christian society with as much 
unconcern, as they go out of one room into another. 
They give occasion to all this complicated mischief, 
and wipe their mouth, and say they have done no evil ! 
Whereas they are justly chargeable, before God and 
man, both with an action that is evil in itself, and with 
all the evil consequences which may be expected to 
follow; to themselves, to their brethren, and to the 
world. 

" I entreat you, therefore, my brethren, all that fear 
God, and have a desire to please him ; all that wish to 
have a conscience void of offence, towards God and 
towards man ; think not so slightly of this matter, but 
consider it calmly. Do not rashly tear asunder the 
sacred ties, which unite you to any Christian society. 
This indeed is not of so much consequence to you who 
are only a nominal Christian. For you are not now 
vitally united to any of the members of Christ. 
Though you are called a Christian, you are not really 
a member of any Christian church. But if you are a 
living member, if you live the life that is hid with 
Christ in God, then take care how you rend the body 
of Christ, by separating from your brethren. It is a 
thing evil in itself. It is a sore evil in its consequences. 
Oh have pity upon yourself! Have pity on your 
brethren ! Have pity even upon the world of the un- 
godly ! Do not lay more stumbling blocks in the way 
of these for whom Christ died. 

" But if you are afraid, and that not without reason, 
of schism, improperly so called ; how much more 
afraid will you be, if your conscience is tender, of 

12 



134 



XOTES. 



schism in the proper scriptural sense! Oh beware, I 
will not say of forming, but of countenancing \ or abet- 
ting any parties in a Christian society ! Never en- 
courage, much less cause, either by word or action, 
any division therein. In the nature of things, " there 
must be heresies [divisions] among you ;" but keep 
thyself pure. Leave off contention before it be med- 
dled with : shun the very beginning of strife. Meddle 
not with them that are given to dispute, with them 
that love contention. I never knew that remark to 
fail ; " He that loves to dispute, does not love God." 
Follow peace with all men, without which you cannot 
effectually follow holiness. Not only " seek peace," 
but " ensue it :" if it seem to flee from you, pursue it 
nevertheless. " Be not overcome of evil, but overcome 
evil with good." 

" Happy is he that attains the character of a peace 
maker in the church of God. Why should not you 
labor after this ? Be not content, not to stir up strife; 
but do all that in you lies, to prevent or quench the 
very first spark of it. Indeed it is far easier to pre- 
vent the flame from breaking out than to quench it 
afterwards. However, be not afraid to attempt even 
this : the God of peace is on your side. He will give 
you acceptable words, and will send them to the heart 
of the hearers. Noli diffidere: noli discedere, says a_ 
pious man,yac quod in te est; et Deus aderit bonoz tuce 
roluntati: " do not distrust him that has all power; 
that has the hearts of all men in his hand. Do what 
in thee lies, and God will be present, and bring thy 
good desires to good effect." Never be weary of well 
doing : in due time thou shalt reap if thou faint not.'' 



' ; This is not schism, but its meet remedy — 

A separation for the Gospel's spread. 

For future higher weal and for convenience made."' 

Stanza 31. 

Dr. Elliott, in the General Conference of 1844, 
moved the adoption of the Report of the Committee of 
Nine, and supported his motion by a short and sensible 
speech ; in which he said that " it was his firm opinion 



NOTES. 



135 



that this (separation) was a proper course for them to 
pursue, in conformity with the scriptures, and the best 
analogies they could collect from the ancient churches, 
as well as from the best organized modern churches. 
All history did not furnish an example of so large a 
body of Christians remaining in such close and unbro- 
ken connection as the Methodist Episcopal Church. It 
was now found necessary to separate this large body, 
for it was becoming unwieldy. He referred to the 
churches at Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem, which, 
though they continued as one, were at least as distinct 
as the M. E. Church would be if the suggested separa- 
tion took place. The Church of England was one un- 
der the Bishops of Canterbury and York : connected 
and yet distinct. In his own mind it had been for years 
perfectly clear, that to this conclusion they must even- 
tually come. Were the question that now unhappily 
agitated the body dead and buried, there would be good 
reason for passing the resolutions contained in the re- 
port. * * * * * * ■ * The 
body was now too large to do business advantageously. 
The measure contemplated was not schism but separa- 
tion for their mutual convenience and prosperity r ." 

See General Conference Debates. 1844, 



"That is not schism where hearts imrent remain/' 

Stanza 33. 

I cannot take schism, says Mr. Wesley, for a separa- 
tion from a church true or false : because I cannot find 
it ever so taken in the Scripture. The first time I read 
the term there, is 1 Cor. ii. I meet with it again chap, 
xii : 18. But it is plain by schism in both places is 
meant, not any separation from the church, but unchar- 
itable divisions in it. — Works, vol. 7, p 286. To the 
same effect is his comment on 1 Cor. 12, 24, 25. " God 
hath tempered the body together, having given more 
abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there 
might be no schism in the body ; but that the members 
might have the same care one for another, &c." We 
may observe, says he, that the word schism, here, means 
the want of this tender care one for another. It un- 
doubtedly means an alienation of affection in any of 



136 



NOTES 



tliem towards their brethren : a division of heart ; and 
parties springing therefrom, though they were still out- 
wardly united together : though they still remained 
members of the same external society. [See his whole 
sermon on Schism, and also the other portions of his 
works wherein he treats on this subject.] 

What the writer contends for is that mere outward 
separation properly effected is not in itself Schism. In 
order to be Schism it must embrace the elements of 
heart division — alienation of affection. That the sep- 
aration of the south was designed by the General 
Conference of 1814 (if it should take place,) to be a 
peaceful separation and not a schismatic one, is abund- 
antly evident. That it has come to embrace the schis- 
matic element at the present time is almost equally 
evident. But upon which party rests the blame of heart 
alienation — in which consists the true and proper rend- 
ding of the body of Chiist — is not for the writer to 
determine ; or whether there may not probably some 
blame rest upon both parties. 

When the M. E. Church became a distinct ecclesi- 
astical organization, separated as to the external form 
from the parent body in Great Biitain, there was, ac- 
cording to Mr. Wesley's definition, no schism. Though 
there was some little feeling, perhaps of an improper 
kind, among some in the old body, yet there, was no 
interruption of fellowship — the new organization, con- 
tinuing in the bonds of peace and love with the old 
body. This fellowship has remained uninterrupted till 
the present time. It is true the two bodies have not 
always exactly harmonized on all questions. Each one 
has its peculiarities, peculiarities in government, in dis- 
cipline, in benevolent enterprise : and peculiarities 
STOwine out of the different circumstances in which the 
two bodies are placed. But these differences of opinion 
and differences of practice, have never been regarded 
as a sufficient reason for a cessation of fellowship ; and 
God forbid that they ever should. Difficult questions 
have also sometimes arisen between the bodies which 
have, for a season, threatened to disturb their ]3eace. 
But these have been happily settled by negotiation. 
An instance of this kind occurred in the year 1S20. 
The preachers of the American Methodist body, and 



NOTES. 



137 



those of the British body, had come into collision in Up- 
per Canada. Great difficulties were likely to arise out 
of this intrusion upon each other's labors. The Amer- 
ican General Conference, through its representative, 
Rev. John Emory, proposed a mode of settling these 
difficulties : viz ; by drawing a boundary line between 
the operations of the two bodies. 

The following extracts from the minutes of the Eng- 
lish Wesley an Conference, held in Liverpool, August, 
1820, and signed Jabez Bunting, President, and George 
Marsden, Secretary, contain an explicit statement of 
this arrangement, with the principles on which it was 
founded. 

" On the subject of the unpleasant circumstances 
which have occurred in the Canadas between the Am- 
erican preachers and our Missionaries, referred to the 
conference by the missionary committee in London, with 
their opinion that Upper Canada should be left in pos- 
session of the American brethren, and that our mission- 
ary exertions shall be confined to the lower province, 
this committee recommend to the conference the adop- 
tion of the following principles and arrangements : — 

" 1. That, as the American Methodists and ourselves 
are but one body, it would be inconsistent with our 
unity, and dangerous to that affection which ought to 
characterize us in every place, to have different societies 
and congregations in the same towns and villages, or to 
allow of any intrusion on either side into each other's 
labors. 

" 2. That this principle shall be the rule by which 
the disputes now existing in the Canadas, between our 
missionaries, shall be terminated. 

" 3. That the simplest and most effectual manner of 
carrying this rule into effect appears to us to be, to ac- 
cede to the suggestion of the American conference, that 
the American brethren shall have the occupation of 
Upper Canada, and the British missionaries that of Low- 
er Canada, allowing sufficient time for carrying this 
arrangement into effect, with all possible tenderness to 
existing prejudices and conflicting interests on both 
sides ; the arrangement to be completed within a period 
to be fixed as early as possible by the missionary com- 
mittee. But should insuperable difficulties occur in the 

12* 



attempt to execute this plan, (which, however, we do 
not anticipate,) either party shall be at liberty to pro- 
pose any other mode of accommodation which shall 
assume as its basis the great principle laid down in the 
first of these resolutions, and which we are of opinion 
should be held most sacred in every part of the world, 

" 4. That if hereafter it shall appear to any of our 
brethren there, either British misssionaries or American 
preachers, that any place on either side the boundary 
line, now mentioned, needs religious help, and presents 
a favorable opportunity of usefulness, the case shall be 
referred by the Canada district meeting to the General 
Conference, or by that body to the Canada district; 
and if either shall formally decline to supply the place 
on their own side the boundary, then the other shall be 
at liberty to supply the said place, without being deem- 
ed to have violated the terms of this friendly compact. 

" 5. And it shall be explicitly understood in this ar- 
rangement, that each party shall be bound to supply 
with preachers all those stations and their dependencies 
which shall be relinquished by each of the connections, 
that no place on either side shall sustain any loss 
of the ordinances of religion in consequence of this 
arrangement. 

" 6. That the missionary committee be directed to 
address a letter to the private and official members, 
trustees, &c, under the care of our missionaries in Up- 
per Canada, informing them of the judgment of the 
conference, and affectionately and earnestly advising 
them to put themselves and their chapels under the 
pastoral care of the American preachers, with the sug- 
gestion of such considerations, to incline them to it, as 
the committee may judge most proper. 

" 7. That the bishops of the American connection 
shall direct a similar letter to the private and official 
members, trustees, &c, under the care of the American 
preachers in the province of Lower Canada, requesting 
them to put themselves and their chapels under the care 
of the British missionaries." 

" The instructions to the missionaries, sent out in pur- 
suance of the above arrangement, are so replete with 
Christian urbanity and kindness, and so fully exemplify 
the spirit by which all Christian associations should be 



NOTES. 



139 



actuated in their intercouese with each other, that I am 
persuaded the reader will be gratified with their pe- 
rusal. They are as follows : 

" Copy of a letter of instructions from tlie 'Missionary Com- 
mittee in Londo?i, to the Rev, Messrs. R. Williams 
and the other British Missionaries in the province of 
Canada " 

" Dear Brother: — Herewith we transmit you a 
copy of resolutions, passed at our late conference, on 
the subject of the disputes which have unhappily exis- 
ted betmeen our American brethren and us, relative to 
our missions in Canada. 

" The preceding resolutions are general, and refer 
to the renewal of the intercourse, by personal deputa- 
tion, between the American and British conferences, 
by the visit of Mr. Emory. We have given you the 
resolutions in full, that you may see that we have re- 
cognised the principle that the Methodist body is one 
throughout the world, and that, therefore, its members 
are bound to cordial affection and brotherly union. 

" The resolutions of the committee, passed some time 
ago, and forwarded for your guidance, prohibiting any 
interference with the work of the American brethren, 
would show you that the existence of collision between 
us and them gave us serious concern, and that the com- 
mittee were anxious to remove, as far as they, at that 
time, were acquainted with the circumstances, every 
occasion of dispute. 

" Certainly the case of Montreal chapel was one 
which we could never justify to our minds, and the 
committee have in many instances had but a partial 
knowledge of the real religious wants of the upper 
province, and of its means of supply. The only rea- 
son we could have for increasing the number of mis- 
sionaries in that province was, the presumption of a 
strong necessity, arising out of the destitute condition 
of the inhabitants, the total want, or too great distance 
of ministers. 

" On no other ground could we apply money raised 
for missionary purposes for the supply of preachers to 
Upper Canada. The information we have had for two 



140 



NOTES. 



years past has all served to show that the number of 
preachers employed there by the American brethren 
was greater than we had at first supposed, and was 
constantly increasing. 

" To us, therefore, it now appears, that though there 
may be places in that province which are not visited 
they are within the range, or constantly coming within 
the range, of the extended American itinerancy ; and 
that Upper Canada does not present to our efforts a 
ground so fully and decidedly missionary as the lower 
province, where much less he]p exists, and a great part 
of the population is involved in popish superstition. 

" We know that political reasons exist in many minds 
for supplying even Upper Canada, as far as .possible, 
with British missionaries ; and however natural this 
feeling may be to Englishmen, and even praiseworthy, 
when not carried too far, it will be obvious to you that 
this is a ground on which, as a missionary society, and 
especially as a society under the direction of a commit- 
tee which recognizes as brethren, and one with itself, 
the American Methodists, we cannot act. 

" 1. Because, as a missionary society, we cannot lay 
it down as a principle that those whose object is to 
convert the world shall be prevented from seeking and 
saving- souls under a foreign government, for we do not 
thus regulate our own efforts. 

" 2. To act on this principle would be to cast an odi- 
um upon our American brethren, as though they did 
not conduct themselves peaceably under the British 
government, which is, we believe, contrary to the fact. 

"3. That if any particular exceptions to this Chris- 
tian and submissive conduct were, on their part, to occur, 
we have not the least right to interfere, unless, indeed, 
the American conference obviously neglected to enforce 
upon the offending parties its own discipline. Upon 
any political feeling which may exist, either in your 
minds or in the minds of a party in any place, we can- 
not therefore proceed. Our objects are purely spiritual, 
and our American brethren and ourselves are one body 
of Christians, sprung from a common stock, holding the 
the same doctrines, enforcing the same discipline, and 
striving in common to spread the light of true religion 
through the world. 



NOTES. 



141 



" In confornity with these views, we have long thought 
it a reproach, and doing more injury, by disturbing the 
harmony of the two connections, than could be counter- 
balanced by any local good, that the same city or town 
should see two congregations, and two societies, and 
two preachers, professing the same form of Christianity, 
and yet thus proclaiming themselves rivals to each oth- 
er, and, in some instances, invading each other's socie- 
ties and chapels, and thus producing party feelings. 
The purposes of each, we are ready to allow, have 
been good, though mistaken ; and we rather blame 
ourselves for not having obtained more accurate infor- 
mation on some particulars, than intimate any dissatis- 
faction with the missionaries in the Canadas, with whose 
zeal and labors we have so much reason to be satisfied. 

" A part of the evil has also arisen from the want of 
personal communication, by deputation, between the 
two conferences, now happily established. These con- 
siderations had long and seriously occupied our minds 
before the arrival of Mr. Emory, charged by the Gen- 
eral American Conference to bring these matters under 
our consideration. The committee, previous to the 
conference, went with him fully into the discussion of 
the disputes in the Canadas, and recommended those 
principles of adjustment which the conference, after 
they had been referred to a special committee during 
the time of its sitting, adopted, and which we now trans- 
mit to all the brethren m the Canada stations. 

" You will consider these resolutions as the fruit of a 
very ample inquiry, and of serious deliberation. 

" None of the principles here adopted by us do in- 
deed go farther than to prevent interference with each 
other's labors among the American and British mission- 
aries, and the setting up of 'altar against altar' in the same 
city, town, or village ; but, knowing that circumstances 
of irritation exist, and that too near a proximity might, 
through the infirmity of human nature, lead to a viola- 
tion of that union which the conference has deemed a 
matter of paramount importance to maintain, we have 
thought it best to adopt a geographical division of the 
labor of each, and that the upper province should be 
left to the American brethren and the lower to you. 
The reasons for this are, 



142 



NOTES. 



" 1. That the upper province is so adequately sup- 
plied by the American conference as not to present that 
pressing case of necessity which will justify our ex- 
pending our funds upon it. 

"2. That Mr. Emory has engaged that its full supply 
by American preachers shall be, as far as possible, 
attended to. 

" 3. That this measure at once terminates the dispute 
as to Montreal. 

" 4. That it will prevent collision without sacrifice 
of public good. 

" 5. That Lower Canada demands our efforts rather 
than Upper, as being more destitute, and the labors 
of the brethren there being more truly missionary. 

"A transfer of societies and places of preaching will 
of course follow. Our societies in Upper Canada are 
to be put under the care of the American brethren ; 
theirs in the lower province under yours. 

" It is clear that this, under all circumstances, will 
require prudent and wise management, and we depend 
upon you to carry the arrangement into effect in the 
same spirit of kindness and temper in which the ques- 
tion has been determined by the conference and Mr. 
Emory. 

" Feel that you are one with your American breth- 
ren, embarked in the same great cause, and eminently 
of the same religious family, and the little difficulties 
of arrangement will be easily surmounted ; and if any 
warm spirits (which is probable) rise up to trouble you, 
remember that you are to act upon the great principle 
sanctioned by the conference, and not upon local pre- 
judices. The "same advices Mr. Emory has pledged 
himself shall be given to the American preachers, and 
you will each endeavor to transfer the same spirit into 
the societies respectively. When the preachers recog- 
nize each other as brethren, the people will naturally 
fall under the influence of the same feeling. 

" We have appointed our respected brethren, Messrs. 
Williams and Hick, who are to choose as an associate 
a third preacher in full connection, to meet an equal 
number of preachers to be appointed by the American 
bishop, who shall agree upon the time in which the 
chapels and societies shall be mutually transferred, and 



NOTES. 



143 



the arrangements of the conference carried into effect. 
The place of the meeting they are to fix for their mu- 
tual convenience, but the meeting is to be held as early 
as possible after the receipt of the instructions of 
the committtee, that the report of the final adjust- 
ment of the affair may appear in your next district 
minutes. 

44 We conclude with our best wishes for your person- 
al happiness and usefulness. May you ever go forth 
in the 4 fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace,' 
and be made the honored instruments of winning many 
souls to the knowledge and obedience of the faith of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

44 We are, dear brother, yours, very affectionately, 

" Jos. Taylor, 
Richard Watson, 

Secretaries. 
44 Wesley an Mission House, 77 Hatton ) 
Garden, 23d August, 1820." j 

44 As it was agreed that our bishops should send 
similar instructions to those brethren to whom the carry- 
ing the above resolutions into practical effect should be 
committed, the following communication was sent to 
the Rev. William Case : — 

"Alexandria, (D. C.,J Oct. 16, 1820. 

44 Dear Brother : — I transmit you herewith a copy 
of the resolutions of the late British conference, received 
through brother Emory, our representative to that body, 
on the subjects embraced in his mission, and also of the 
instructions of the missionary committee in London to 
the Rev. Messrs. R. Williams and the other British mis- 
sionaries in the provinces of Canada, predicated on 
those resolutions. 

44 From these documents you will perceive that the 
desire of our General Conference, both for the estab- 
lishment of a personal intercourse by deputation be- 
tween the two connections, and for the amicable adjust- 
ment of the afflicting differences in the Canadas, has 
been happily accomplished. Indeed it appears, not 
only from those papers, but from the communications 
of our representative, that this desire was met, both by 
the British conference, and the missionary committee, 



144 



NOTES. 



with a promptness and brotherly affection which we 
should take equal pleasure in acknowledging and re- 
ciprocating. 

" This it now devolves upon me (my colleagues be- 
ing necessarily at a great distance, in the discharge of 
their official duties in the south and west) to enjoin it 
upon you to do ; and promote the same spirit of kind- 
ness toward our British brethren, among all the preach- 
ers, travelling and local, and all the official and private 
members within your district, to the utmost extent 
of your power. 

" To remove the prejudices and allay the unpleasant 
excitements existing, will, no doubt, require much pru- 
dent care. But in this t labor of love' I expect in you 
a ready mind. Let the difficulties you may meet with 
only stimulate you to the exertion of your best and 
most persevering efforts in this behalf. Remember, 
' Blessed are the peace-makers.' ' Seek peace, then, 
and ensue it/ If it even seem to flee from you, follow 
it : ' Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace 
of Gtod ; lest any root of bitterness, springing up, trouble 
you, and thereby many be defiled.' 

4 ' In the present state of things, (your acquaintance 
with which renders detail unnecessary,) we have thought 
it best to agree to a division of our field of labors in the 
Canadas by the provincial line. In the expediency 
of this measure you will see that the missionary com- 
mittee in London, and the British conference have con- 
curred ; so that our labors there are to be confined, in 
future, to the upper province, and those of the British 
missionaries to the lower. 

" A transfer of societies and places of preaching will 
of course follow. Our societies in Lower Canada are 
to be put under the care of our British brethren, and 
theirs, in the upper province, under ours. 

" For the execution of these arrangements I have 
appointed brother Ryan and yourself, with authority to 
associate with you a third preacher in full connection, 
to meet the Rev. Messrs. R. Williams and Hick, ap- 
pointed by the missionary committee, and such other 
preacher as they may associate with them. The time 
and place of meeting you will agree on with them, for 
your mutual convenience. The missionary committee 



NOTES. 



145 



have instructed their agents that the meeting is to be 
held as early as possible after the receipt of the in- 
structions of the committee, that the report of the 
final adjustment of the affair may appear in the next 
district minutes. In this we concur. You will, there- 
fore, immediately upon the reception of these instruc- 
tions, in conjunction with brother Ryan and your asso- 
ciate, correspond with the Rev. Messrs. Williams and 
Hick and their associate on the subject ; and fail not 
to use every means in your power for the prompt ex- 
ecution of the arrangements in the best faith, and in 
the most harmonious and affectionate manner. In the 
language of the missionary committee, we cordially 
unite to say, ' Feel that you are one with your' British 
' brethren, embarked in the same great cause, and em- 
inently of the same religious family, and the little 
difficulties of arrangement will be easily surmounted ; 
and if any warm spirits rise up to trouble you, remem- 
ber that you are to act on the great principles now 
sanctioned and avowed by the two connections, and 
not upon local prejudices.' If each endeavor to trans- 
fuse this spirit into the societies respectively, the people 
will much more easily be brought under the influence 
of the same feeling, when it shall be found to possess 
and actuate the preachers. In any event, let there be 
no deficiency on your part in spirit, word, or deed. 
We commit to you a sacred work, which you are 
bound to perform, not only as to the matter, but in the 
manner, in the temper, in which, as these instructions 
are intended to show you, we ourselves would perform 
it, could we be present. Attend strictly to this, that 
we may have joy and consolation in your love, the 
bowels of the saints being refreshed by you ; and for- 
ward to us, as early as possible, regular and full copies 
of all your correspondence and proceedings in this 
business. 

" Should it be found practicable to complete the 
arrangements previously to the next Genesee annual 
conference, you will of course take care to provide for 
the supply of those circuits, societies, and places of 
preaching in the upper province which may be trans- 
ferred to us by our British brethren, as they are to 
be simultaneously transferred to them in the lower 

13 



146 



NOTES, 



province. You will also take care, from time to time, 
to extend supplies to any remaining places which may 
be found destitute in the upper province, as far as 
possible. 

" There are several circuits, I believe, in Lower 
Canada, attached to the New York and New England 
conferences. These are included in the arrangement. 
You will therefore forward a copy of these instructions 
to each of the presiding elders within whose districts 
those circuits are embraced, and request them to be 
prepared to cooperate with you in the final execution 
of the business, and to report the same at their ensu- 
ing annual conferences respectively. 

" The missionary committee in London having 
kindly furnished us with a copy of their instructions, 
we shall transmit a copy of these I now send you to 
them. You will also show them, when you meet, to 
the Rev. Messrs. Williams and Hick and their associ- 
ate, and, if they desire it, give them a copy, that you 
may go on in this good work as we have happily be- 
gun, with that frankness and kindness which become 
brethren in such a cause. 

" By the sixth resolution of the British Conference 
on the Canadian business, it is provided that the 
missionary committee be directed to address a letter 
to the private and official members, trustees, &c. under 
the care of the missionaries in L T pper Canada, inform- 
ing them of the judgment of the conference, and 
affectionately and earnestly advising them to put them- 
selves and their chapels under the pastoral care of the 
American preachers, with the suggestion of such con- 
siderations to incline them to it as the committee may 
judge most proper. And by the seventh resolution it 
is provided that we shall address a similiar letter to 
the private and official members, trustees, &c. under 
our care. I accordingly enclose a letter which you 
will use for this purpose, after you have met with 
Messrs. Williams and Hick, &c. and agreed with them 
on the time of making the transfer of the societies, 
chapels, &c. but not to be used before. At the same 
time, after this meeting and agreement, you will also 
forward a copy of this letter to each of the presiding 
elders in the New- York and New-England conferences 



NOTES. 



147 



whose districts embrace circuits in Lower Canada, to 
be used by them. 

" Confiding in your faithful discharge of the several 
trusts committed to you, I commend you to the Lord, 
and remain, dear brother, yours in love. 

Wm. M'Kendree." 

" The following was also addressed to the brethren 
therein mentioned in Lower Canada : — 

" To the private and official members, trustees, §-c. of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in Lower Canada. 

" Very Dear Brethren : — You are aware that, 
for several years past, very unpleasant collisions have 
occurred in various parts both of the upper and lower 
provinces, between the British missionaries and some 
of our brethren. This has been a source of great 
affliction to us, and has led to the adoption of various 
and successive measures for the correction of the evil. 

" Our late General Conference, being earnestly de- 
sirous of restoring the amicable relations of the two 
connections, authorized the deputation of a represen- 
tative to the British conference for this purpose. One 
was accordingly sent. And, after a deliberate investi- 
gation, it has been mutually thought best, for the sake 
of peace and love, under all the circumstances of the 
case, to divide our labors in the Canadas in such a 
manner as to guard effectually against all collisions in 
future. 

" With this view, it has been agreed that our British 
brethren shall supply the lower province and our 
preachers the upper ; yet so that no circuits or socie- 
ties on either side shall be left destitute by the other. 
This has been sacredly attended to, and mutual pledges 
for the performance of it have been passed. It now 
becomes our duty, therefore, to inform you of this 
agreement, and to advise you, in the most affectionate 
and earnest manner, to put yourselves and chapels un- 
der the care of our British brethren, as their societies 
and chapels in the upper province will be put under 
ours. 

" This communication to you, we confess, is not 
made without pain ; not from any want of affection for 



14S 



NOTES. 



our British brethren, but from the recollection of those 
tender and endearing ties which have bound us to you. 
But a necessity is laid upon us. It is a peace-offering. 
No other consideration could have induced us to con- 
sent to the measure. Forgive, therefore, our seeming 
to give you up. We do not give you up in heart, in 
affection, in kind regards, in prayers. 

" The British and American connections have now 
mutually recognized each other as one body of Chris- 
tians, sprung from a common stock, holding the same 
doctrines, of the same religious family, and striving in 
common to speed the light of true religion through the 
world ; and they have agreed to keep up a regular in- 
tercourse by deputation, in future, for the maintenance 
of this brotherly union. 

" Let any past differences, therefore, be forgotten. 
Let them be buried for ever. Confirm your love 
toward your British brethren, and receive them as our- 
selves ; — not as strangers, but as brothers beloved. 
By this shall all men know that we are Christ's disci- 
ples, if we love one another. Love is of God, and he 
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 
May the God of love and peace be with you, and 
crown you with the blessedness of contributing with 
us to heal the wounds of the church, aud to establish 
that 'fellowship of the spirit' which shall enable us to 
say, 6 Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren 
to dwell together in unity ! It is like the precious 
ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the 
beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the 
skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and 
as the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion : 
for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life 
for evermore.' 

" For any farther information that you may desire I 
refer you to the presiding elder, to whom it is given in 
charge to make this communication to you ; and re- 
main, dear brethren, with the same affection for you, 
in the bonds of the gospel of peace, and the best 
wishes and prayers for your happiness and salvation. 

Wm. M'Kendree." 



"Alexandria, (B. C.J Oct. 16, 1320.' 



NOTES, 



149 



" These proceedings gave general satisfaction, and 
tended not a little to allay the uneasiness which had 
resulted from the collisions of individuals in the two 
provinces, as well as to soften the asperities of those 
who had suffered the heat of party zeal to carry them 
beyond the bounds of Christian moderation. This re- 
sult also shows how little the individual and local 
interests of a few affect those whose position gives 
them a commanding and impartial view of the whole 
ground of controversy, and who consequently feel for 
the whole as for every part, and for every part as for 
the whole. And it is no small commendation of the 
Christian spirit by which each of the contracting par- 
ties was actuated, to find them thus ready to sacrifice 
individual and local interests for the sake of binding 
the entire Methodist family together in one great 
brotherhood." 

From the foregoing it will be seen that Methodistic 
unity admits of distinct ecclesiastical connections ; and 
not merely admits, but requires of necessity, and for 
the sake of that very unity, a boundary line between 
them, whenever their fields of operation are contiguous. 
In no ofeher way can peace and unity be long main- 
tained. 

Peace, peace, ye warring Sons of Methodism. 

Stanza 37. 

An extract from the celebrated Dr. Harris, on 
Christian Union, may be in place here. It is true that 
he treats of the fellowship of Christian denominations 
generally. But the argument will be increased in in- 
tensity, if we apply it to the different bodies of Meth- 
odism in particular. 

" The fellowship of Christian denominations should 
be cultivated from the consideration that the wisest and 
hest of each have most earnestly desired it, and that now 
they are perfectly one in the Church above. Many of 
them (men of whom the world was not worthy) have 
left their desire on record— a fact which will be ad- 
duced in evidence against the troublers of the church, 
in the day of final account. Some of them died with 

13* 



150 



NOTES, 



the desire on their lips; they could not bequeath a 
legacy of peace to the Church, as their dying Lord 
did, but they approached his example as nearly as they 
were able, by earnestly desiring it for those they left 
behind. Some of them who had contended too 
eagerly concerning minor points, saw and acknow- 
ledged their error even on this side death. How ad- 
mirable the letter in which Ridley, writing to Hooper 
— when both of them were prisoners for Christ — 
laments their " little jarring in times past about the by- 
matters and circumstances of religion," but assures 
him that, "with his whole heart in the bowels of Christ, 
he loves him for the truth's sake, which abideth in us." 
And can we suppose that in heaven they are conscious 
of any regret on the subject of their agreement, ex- 
cept that it was not made earlier] "If the ruptures 
of the Church might be composed," says Chilling- 
worth, " I do heartily wish that the cement were made 
of my dearest blood." 

A tender appeal for the unity of the Church is deriv- 
able from the fact that it owes its existence entirely to 
infinite love. If, like many an earthly kingdom and 
institution, it had originated in strife, in strife it might 
have been maintained ; but it is the pure creation of 
Love. If it be true that in God we live, and move, 
and have our being — if, as men, we inhabit his infinite 
essence, it is true that, as Christians, we inhabit his 
very heart, dwell in his love. It is to this fact the 
apostle alludes when he would have us to comprehend 
with all saints the fourfold dimensions of the love of 
God. Material substances have only three dimensions: 
but the Church, having for its temple the heart of God, 
is to search for the circumference in all directions 
round, and be lost in the love which passeth knowledge. 
Christians, the church is the institution of love ; shall 
we make it the scene of hatred ? It stands in the 
heart of God ; shall we fill it with malevolence 1 
What should we have thought of the disciples, had 
they audibly quarreled on Calvary, and in the hearing 
of their dying Lord \ And yet all our contentions are 
conducted in the presence of the love which led him 
there ! Is not this crucifying him afresh ] 

;i The union of Christians would be not only emi- 



NOTES, 



151 



nently agreeable to the Author of their salvation, and 
in accordance with what they owe to his love, it would 
be supremely advantageous to themselves. How neces- 
sarily would it tend to harmonize their views on those 
points which are now the sources of division! Is not 
this the gracious way in which God seeks to terminate 
our guilty quarrel with himself] Instead of moving 
off from us to the greatest possible distance, has he not 
come nearer to us than ever, dwelt amongst us, estab- 
lished a ministry of reconciliation, and invited us to 
" come and reason" with him at a throne of grace % 
And by pursuing this gracious course towards us, is he 
not intentionally showing us the right way of becom- 
ing reconciled to each other] and would he not honor 
and bless the imitation of his own methods % 

" But if the union of the Church militant would be 
thus agreeable to the Church triumphant, how much 
more agreeable would it be to the nature of Him who is 
the Author of both — the blessed God! He is "the very 
God of peace." Whatever the glorified above, or the 
redeemed on earth, may know of peace, they only 
know as recipients and instruments ; but he is its very 
God. He is the fountain whence all the streams of 
peace which are at this moment circulating through 
the universe, immediately flow. And his Church was 
intended, under Christ, to be the channel of peace to 
this troubled world. How agreeable, then, would it be 
to his exalted nature to see his church answering its 
high design ; no longer reflecting from its bosom the 
tempestuous and angry sky of earthly strife, but the 
calm of a higher region — giving back to heaven its 
own image, and presenting to earth the means of be- 
coming like it. 

" How agreeable would it be to Him who has selected^ 
as one of his most appropriate titles, "the Prince of 
Peace!" who chose that the peace-makers should be 
called, more emphatically than others, the children of 
God — leaving us to infer that they more nearly resem- 
ble their heavenly Father; who bequeathed to his 
Church a legacy of peace ; who prayed in death that 
his followers might be one ; and who would still be 
invoked by them " as the Lord of peace himself." As 
" the head of his body the Church," he feels the shock 



152 



NOTES. 



and suffering of all that is inflicted on the members; 
and not the less that the hand which inflicts it is its 
own. How congenial would it be to his gracious na- 
ture to see that his people were no longer crucifying 
him afresh, and putting him to an open shame — that 
they were no longer losing sight of his cross in a fierce 
contention about his seamless robe — no longer forget- 
ting, his atoning blood, in their thirst for the blood of 
each other — but that they were all looking upon him 
who had been thus wounded in the house of his 
friends, were mingling their tears and supplications 
together, and then, emulating the winged zeal of the 
angels at his advent, were going into all the world, 
preaching " peace on earth, good will towards men !" 
. " How agreeable would the restoration of unity he to 
that divine agent who is given to the Church as the 
Spirit of love, joy and peace! " There is but one 
body and one Spirit," a Spirit that spreads vital influ- 
ence through the body. What can we think of that 
Spirit that feels everywhere ? that is in the body a 
universal sentient % How can that Spirit but be 
grieved? How should any of us like it, to have our 
living body torn limb from limb, and part from part 1 
Though with him passion and disturbance can have no 
place, intellectual resentment is infinitely greater and 
deeper than we can either feel or conceive. But in the 
same sense and degree in which the dissevered and 
distracted state of the Church now grieves him, the 
restoration of its unity and peace would yield him in- 
effable delight. The very desire of such restoration, 
sincerely and generally expressed, would open the 
windows of heaven, and cause him to return. If even 
a good man is conscious of pure satisfaction in only 
attempting a family reconciliation, how inconceivable 
would be the satisfaction of the Divine Spirit in re- 
storing and ratifying the peace of the great family of 
God ! What benevolent spirit in heaven would not 
find an additional heaven in being despatched even to 
assist in such an office i Who, then, shall attempt to 
describe the satisfaction of him to whom the office be- 
longs, and to whom it belongs because it is congenial 
•md proper to his nature % In restoring the torn mem- 
bers of the Church to each other, and healing its 



NOTES. 



153 



wounds, lie would only be gratifying his own nature. 
And having prepared the body, he would be able to 
return to his appropriate office of being the life of 
that body, and through it, the glorifler of Jesus in the 
conversion of the world. 

" But if the unity of the Church would be thus 
agreeable to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy 
Spirit, let us consider its eminent fitness and consequent 
agreeableness to the blessed Trinity in Unity. Of this 
we are reminded by our Lord himself, in his interces- 
sory prayer ; u that they all might be one, as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also might 
be one in us." Of the divine subsistencies in the 
Trinity, the Church knows nothing scripturally, but 
as they subsist in the unity of the God-head, acting 
together in the economy of our salvation. And of all 
the partakers of that salvation, the world ought to have 
known nothing practically, but as they were seen to- 
gether in the unity of the Church, acting together for 
the conversion of the world. How suitable is it that 
those who have to subscribe their salvation to a plan 
in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit 
have united their infinite perfections, and who have 
been all baptized into their one sacred name, should 
themselves unite in a community of love and duty, in 
return — that the members of each Christian Church, 
feeling the penury of their utmost love, should call on 
the members of every other Church to unite with 
them, and thus multiply their means of glorifying the 
Triune God ! And how supremely agreeable to the 
blessed Trinity, looking down from the throne of their 
infinite glory, to behold the image of their ineffable 
union reflected in the intimate and indissoluble oneness 
of the Church ; and the Church contending only which 
part of it shall be most instrumental in going into all 
the world, and preaching the gospel to every creature, 
and baptizing them into the threefold name of God ! . 

" I confess," writes Owen, " I would rather, much 
rather, spend all my time and days in making up and 
healing the breaches and schisms that are amongst 
Christians than one hour in justifying our divisions, 
even therein, wherein on the one side they are capable 
of a just defence." "Far more comfort were it for 



154 



NOTES. 



us" writes Hooker in his " Ecclesiastical Polity," 64 to 
labor under the same yoke as men who look for the 
same eternal reward of their labors ; to be enjoined 
with you in the bonds of indissoluble love and unity ; 
to live as if, our persons being many, our souls were 
but one, rather than in such dismembered sort to spend 
our few and wretched days in a tedious prosecuting 
of wearisome contentions, the end whereof, if they 
have not some speedy end, will be heavy on both- 
sides." How solemn the adjuration of Bishop Hall, 
when preaching before the Synod of Dort — " We are 
one body, let us also be of one mind. By that tremen- 
dous name of the Almighty God — by your own souls 
— by the most holy compassions of Jesus Christ our 
Saviour, aim at peace, brethren ; enter into peace ; 
that, laying aside all prejudice, party spirit, and evil 
affections, we may all come to a happy agreement in 
the same truth." It has long been my grief, as well 
as my wonder," writes Boyle, " to see such compara- 
tively petty differences in judgment make such wide 
breaches and vast divisions in affection." " I," ex- 
claimed Baxter, in the golden sentence we have already 
quoted, " I can as willingly be a martyr for Love, as 
for any article of the creed." And such is the spirit 
breathed in the writings of a Wesley, a Whitfield, and 
indeed of all the most distinguished " fathers of the 
modern churches." 

" And can we suppose that they who were the me- 
diators and healing spirits of their day, have anything 
to regret, except that they were not more in earnest ? 
Oh ! could we take our differences into their presence 
— could we convoke and consult a Synod of the blessed 
— how certainly should we behold those whose disci- 
ples and descendants have been ever at variance here, 
sitting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ; 
how earnestly would they unite in admonishing those 
followers, if they honor their memory, and would en- 
hance their happiness, to blot from their writings the 
controversial and cententious page in which once they 
gfloried — to merge their names at once and forever in 
the great Christian name — and to emulate the union of 
heaven, if they would obtain an antepast of its joys ! 
Let us but imagine what their blessed spirits now feel 



NOTES. 



155 



at the retrospect of their earthly frailties, and can we 
do other than strive to feel as they now feel, not as they 
once felt ? So will it be with the disputes between 
good men of the present day ! And if you have no 
other reason to doubt your opponent's goodness than 
the little point in dispute, think of Baxter and Ham- 
mond, of Milton and Taylor, and let it be no reason 
at all." 



What ! can the sons of Wesley not shake hands. 
Because they cannot to the jot agree ? 

Stanza 38. 

An extract from Mr. Wesley's sermon on "A Cath- 
olic Spirit," may here be indulged : 

" I dare not, therefore, presume to impose my mode 
of worship on any other. I believe it is truly primitive 
and apostolical ; but my belief is no rule for another. 
I ask not, therefore, of him with whom I would unite 
in love, Are you of my church ] of my congregation 1 
Do you receive the same form of church government, 
and allow the same church officers with me % Do you 
join in the same form of prayer wherein I worship 
God 1 I inquire not, Do you receive the supper of the 
Lord -in the same posture and manner that I dol 
Nor whether in the administration of baptism, you 
agree with me in admitting sureties for the baptized ; 
in the manner of administering it ; or the age of those 
to whom it should be administered ] Let all these 
things stand by ; we will talk of them, if need be, 
at a more convenient season : my only question at 
-present is this : 4 Is thine heart right, as my heart is 
with thy heart V 9 

" 4 If it be, give me thy hand.' I do not mean, 4 Be 
of my opinion.' You need not : I do not expect or 
desire it. Neither do I mean, 4 I will be of your opin- 
ion.' I cannot : it does not depend on my choice : I 
can no more think, that I can see or hear, as I will. 
Keep you your opinion ; I mine ; and that as steadily 
as ever. You need not even endeavor to come over 
to me, or bring me over to you. I do not desire you 
to dispute those points, or to hear or speak one word 
concerning them. Let all opinions alone, on one side 
and the other : only 4 give me thine hand.' " 



156 



NOTES. 



Such is the language of the greatest and best of the 
Church, when speaking of the differences which exist 
among Christian denominations. We cannot, unless 
greatly blinded, but feel the force of their language as 
specially applicable to the two organizations of Meth- 
odism in the United States. They differ not in doc- 
trines, in modes of worship, in ecclesiastical polity 
even ; but chiefly on one question, concerning which 
there is room for a difference of opinion and of practice, 
without at all impeaching each other's sincerity or 
general Christian character. And for this, they are 
divided in affection, as well as in form ! For this 
there is a schism in the body ! For this the unity of 
American Methodism is to be destroyed ! Head of 
the Church, who diedst to gather together all the chil- 
dren of God in one, who bearest with the prejudices 
and ignorance and imperfections of thy members, 
without cutting them off and casting them from thee, 
help us to exercise the same heavenly charity to one 
another — that we may not fall into the crime of refu- 
sing to fellowship those whom thou hast not refused to 
fellowship — that we may not cast off those whom thou 
retainest : but that the members of thy body equally 
owned by thee, and equally deriving their life from thee, 
may also acknowledge one another as fellow members 
of Christ : " till we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of Grod, unto a per- 
fect man, unto the measure of the stature of the full- 
ness of Christ : that we be henceforth no more children, 
tossed to and fro, and earned about by every wind of 
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, 
whereby they lie in wait to deceive ; but speaking the 
truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, 
which is the Head, even Christ ; from whom the whole 
body fitly joined together, and compacted by that 
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual 
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase 
of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." — Ephs. 
Ch. iv. 13, 16. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



